Over Her Dead Body (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
X Rental
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / February 6, 2008

There’s simply no avoiding it: Things go wrong on your wedding day, no matter how carefully you’ve planned. But even if your wedding cake topples onto the ground, you can still come back from that. If you should die, however, well, there’s no coming back from that. … Or is there?

The unfortunate bride-to-be in “Over Her Dead Body” does come back, and she haunts her fiancé’s new girlfriend. That’s the movie’s premise, and it’s a fun one. When Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) is killed by an ice sculpture of an ambiguous angel, her groom, Henry (Paul Rudd), takes it pretty hard.

In fact, for about a year he mopes around, unwilling to leave his apartment, unless he’s going to his clinic where he works as a veterinarian. Luckily, Henry’s sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) is an intrusive busybody who insists that he visit a psychic to try to contact his dead fiancée.

Reluctantly, the skeptical Henry sees Ashley (Lake Bell), a psychic/caterer. And when the psychic and Henry start to get better acquainted, ghostly Kate begins to harass Ashley, the only living person who can see her. The movie unfolds in an entertaining manner as we watch Ashley attempt to deal with her relentless phantom menace.

Paul Rudd demonstrates excellent comedic timing and delivery as Henry. “Over Her Dead Body” has a few decent laughs and is comparable to this year’s “27 Dresses.” Both romantic comedies are sure bets for enjoyable rentals.

There was, however, a mysterious undercurrent of viciousness seeping from this movie. Unlike most romantic comedies, there is an absence of innocence in “Over Her Dead Body,” despite its bittersweet moments. It’s hard to identify, specifically, but you might see what I mean if you watch it.

Last year’s filmmakers must have been revisiting “Ghost” (1990), because both “The Eye” and “Over Her Dead Body” borrow a lot from that Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore hit. The similarities are hard to miss.

But when it’s all said and done, “Over Her Dead Body” is decent; but more importantly, it can serve as a consolation to couples who have ever had something royally screwed up at their wedding. So just remember: It could always be worse than your best man’s inappropriate toast or your unwatchable wedding video ... but not by much.

Directed by Jeff Lowell
Eva Longoria Parker / Paul Rudd / Lake Bell
Comedy / Romance 95 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for sexual content and language)

U.S. Release Date: February 1, 2008
Copyright 2008: 234