Lake Bell, Eva Longoria Parker and Paul Rudd star in OVER HER DEAD BODY(2008).
© New Line

Mania Grade: C-
Title: Over Her Dead Body
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Lindsay Sloane, Jason Biggs
Writer: Jeff Lovell
Director: Jeff Lovell
Distributor: New Line

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OVER HER DEAD BODY

Let’s get this out of the way here. Over Her Dead Body is a romantic comedy that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone except big fans of the cast members. Why, then, not a worse grade? Well, it’s internally coherent, well-acted, looks good and has the occasional decent joke and dialogue exchange. So what’s wrong with it?

Let’s start at the beginning. We meet Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) on her wedding day. With the notable exception of her fiancé Henry (Paul Rudd), an even-tempered veterinarian, Kate’s behavior is appalling to everyone she’s dealing with. There’s being stressed and then there’s inexcusably abusing one’s position, and Kate is so far over the wrong side of the line that when she’s killed, in an accident that is indirectly the result of her high-handedness, we wonder if we’re supposed to feel bad or relieved. Kate arrives in what is apparently the waiting area for Heaven, but she’s so rude to the angel (Kali Rocha) sent to instruct her that the new soul is deposited back on Earth, sans instructions for what she’s supposed to do to be allowed to rest in peace. Other ghosts and animals can see Kate, but not Henry, who is still grieving his loss a year later. Henry’s sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane), trying to get Henry to get on with his life, enlists part-time psychic Ashley (Lake Bell) to get a message from the other side that Kate wants Henry to be happy. When a real psychic session doesn’t work, Chloe persuades Ashley to fib, with the help of Kate’s diary. Problem one: Kate really doesn’t want Henry to move on to another woman. Problem two: Ashley falls for Henry, and when it turns out that her psychic abilities really do allow her to see and hear Kate, Ashley is all the more determined to win Henry over.

So what we have here is a mean-spirited spirit, a duplicitous, immediately competitive deceiver, and a guy who’s too obtuse to notice these traits in either of his love objects. Physical attractiveness aside, why should we root for any of these people to link up? Jason Biggs, as Ashley’s supportive friend and business partner, plays someone we can sort of sympathize with, but the script pulls a whammy on him that undercuts the subplot he’s been given. Director/writer Jeff Lovell paces the scenes between Kate and Ashley as though we’re watching a sitcom about two roommates who don’t get along but are stuck with each other. Henry gets some good lines, but because he’s so functional in every way, we don’t even get the feeling that he’s really moping – the only scene in which we feel real emotion is one between siblings Henry and Chloe.

Generally speaking, this is a romance not to be wished on anyone, irritating where it’s meant to be amusing and glib where it should be heartfelt. Though they share some plot elements, no one will confuse Over Her Dead Body with Ghost.