Eva Longoria has become one of my favorite television actresses over the past four years as I’ve watched her on Desperate Housewives. In fact, she’s probably the main reason that I still tune into the show these days, since I can barely stand any of the other characters anymore. So when I heard that she was starring in a new romantic comedy called Over Her Dead Body, I immediately decided that I wanted to see it — until the reviews rolled in.
The film was roundly trashed by critics when it was released in February, and didn’t fare very well at the box office, earning just $7.5 million during its theatrical run. Needless to say, I didn’t bother spending my money on tickets, opting to wait for the DVD instead — which I finally got to watch a couple of days ago. It actually wasn’t that bad!
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Longoria stars as Kate, a strong-willed and somewhat overbearing bride-to-be who gets killed in a freak accident on her wedding day when an angel ice sculpture falls on her. Henry (played by Paul Rudd), the man Kate was about to marry, becomes heartbroken and can’t move on — not even after an entire year passes by.
Henry’s sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) decides to take matters into her own hands. She convinces Henry to go see a psychic named Ashley (Lake Bell) in order to make contact with Kate. Chloe’s plan is to have Henry believe that Kate wants him to go on with his life. Of course, Henry doesn’t believe in Ashley’s psychic abilities, so Chloe helps out by giving Ashley Kate’s diary so she can give Henry solid tidbits of information.
Henry ends up liking Ashley, and begins spending time with her. Seeing this, Kate becomes extremely jealous and resolves to drive the two of them apart. Kate makes herself known to Ashley (who really can communicate with the dead after all), then tells her flat out that she doesn’t want Ashley and Henry to date. Ashley bristles at being told what to do by a ghost, and resolves to continue seeing Henry no matter what.
The rest of the film then deals with the various means Kate uses to drive Ashley and Henry apart. This being a romantic comedy, you know that things will eventually turn our well in the end, with everyone coming out of the situation happier than when they went in.
My Reaction: I didn’t think Over Her Dead Body was as bad as the critics have been saying. No, it’s not going to win any awards, but it clearly wasn’t meant to be that type of film. It was intended to be a fun, light popcorn flick, and it delivers in that respect. Despite a few problems in the screenplay, I found myself laughing out loud at several of the lines and was happy to see the action move along at a quick pace, thereby making the experience pretty entertaining.
I have to say that the biggest surprise in this film was Lake Bell. I only knew her from Boston Legal before, and didn’t think she was all that great on the show. But she showed some terrific comedic timing in Over Her Dead Body and ended up being quite likable. I think she was one of the reasons that the film was tolerable; I can definitely see a different outcome had the role been played by someone annoying.
Eva Longoria was decent as well, though there were times when it seemed like she was simply channeling Gabby Solis instead of portraying a different character, but that didn’t bother me too much.
Overall, I thought Over Her Dead Body was much more watchable than it’s been given credit for being. I give it 3 stars out of 5.
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