Laughs, romance mostly DOA in “Dead Body”
Posted by admin
By Sheri Linden
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - They require the
precision and finesse of souffles, but more and more romantic
comedies are turned out like so many build-your-own omelets —
surprise-free and forgettable. Fresh off the Sunday-brunch
assembly line, New Line’s “Over Her Dead Body” is a love
triangle about a guy and two girls, one of whom is his dead,
jealous fiancee. After a boxoffice fling, this manufactured
whimsy should find true bliss in DVD afterlife.
Writer-director Jeff Lowell’s recipe is sound, if
uninspired, but the all-important element of chemistry remains
elusive. Working with the basic rom-com template — man and
woman meet cute under false circumstances, overcome wariness,
fall for each other, then split up after the truth surfaces,
just long enough to know that they can’t live apart — Lowell
has created a premise with a pleasing streamlined simplicity.
But he and his cast do little to lift the material beyond the
realm of silliness.
A year after an ice sculpture crushed his fiancee to death
hours before their wedding, Henry (Paul Rudd) reluctantly lets
his ditzy, interfering sister, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane), drag him
to a psychic. Chloe’s hope is that a channeled word of
encouragement from his dearly departed will spur him to move on
– “moving on” being the new “closure.” Henry isn’t quite a sad
sack, but he’s resigned to a loveless life, and his glumness
appears to have affected his work — he’s a veterinarian who
doesn’t particularly like animals. Or that could just be a
reflection of how half-baked the film’s characters are.
The reading by pretty psychic/caterer Ashley (Lake Bell) is
no breakthrough. But Henry’s sister secretly appeals to her to
try it again, this time armed with the diary of Kate, Henry’s
deceased love, the better to convince him that Ashley has
contacted her and that Kate really wants him to, yes, move on.
The ruse gets the better of Henry’s wry skepticism. But as
sparks ignite between him and Ashley, Kate (Eva Longoria
Parker) arrives on the scene, and she’s a bossy little ghost.
Having so aggravated her angel guide (Kali Rocha), Kate
still is in earthbound limbo and decides that her mission is to
meddle with the budding romance. She sets about playing mean
tricks on Ashley, intended to be hilarious but barely raising a
smile. Thanks to her intermittent psychic gifts, Ashley can see
the stylish ghost, and the story devolves into a catfight over
a guy.
Ashley gets to vent with her gay catering assistant, Dan
(Jason Biggs), a twist on the stock, thankless role of the best
friend. A further third-act twist on this character is
borderline ridiculous and mildly creepy.
Despite the film’s oversimplified pop-psych premise, the
idea of the difficulty of letting go is a resonant one. But its
resonance is limited here by the thinly conceived characters
and the fact that we never get a glimpse of what passive Henry
and shrill Kate liked, let alone loved, about each other.
Vaguely quirky and down-to-earth, Ashley exists mainly as a
contrast to Kate’s control freak. Slapstick and when-in-doubt
fart jokes don’t buoy the proceedings.
Rudd is an underappreciated comic actor, and his line
readings are the best thing in the film, but the bland role
barely taps his talent. Amid the rest of the cast’s one-note
posing, his scenes with a parrot have a spontaneity and wit
otherwise in short supply. Continued…
