Over Her Dead Body

Photos:

Henry (Paul Rudd) struggles to move on a year after a falling ice sculpture kills his fiancée, Kate (Eva Longoria Parker), on their wedding day. That is, until he hits it off with professional psychic/caterer Ashley (Lake Bell, appealing), who’d love to date Henry if Kate’s ghost would stop harassing her.

Big question: Can Rudd’s presence save this romantic comedy from certain death?

Skip it: The messages from the dead aren’t as creepy as the ones in “P.S. I Love You,” but that excuses neither Kate’s irritating rants nor Jason Biggs' (as Ashley’s catering business partner) spastic physical comedy. “Over Her Dead Body” achieves the not-always-easy task of convincing us that two strangers belong together -- while laboring to keep them apart with a premise as doomed as a horse with a broken leg.

Catch it: If you agree with Ashley that great guys are so hard to find that you shouldn’t let a little thing like a ghost get in your way. As the saying goes: All’s fair in love, war and the afterlife.

Bottom line: Winning as always, Rudd understands the dark humor that seeps into the grieving process and shows that he could be the next John Cusack if given halfway-decent material. But “Over Her Dead Body” is much worse than decent and proves that Longoria Parker can be as annoying as she is beautiful.

Bonus: Kate insists that the difference between a person and an angel is that angels naturally have wings. Victoria’s Secret Angels, you’ve got some explaining to do!

What do you think of "Over Her Dead Body"? Email me: mpais@tribune.com

Add a comment