If it weren't for an ice sculpture of an angel
without wings, Kate (Parker) would have had the
perfect wedding. But it arrives less than pleasing
to her eyes and she orders the man responsible to
get it out of her reception area at once. He nearly
backs over her flower arrangement and she throws
herself in the way, not realizing that he cannot see
her in the rear view mirror. Just like that, her
life is over. But she cannot move on.
Many months later, her would-be husband Henry (Rudd)
is still mourning her passing, causing his sister
Chloe (Sloane) to think up an unusual tactic that
might just get him to move on. She happens to know a
local psychic whom she hopes to convince to persuade
Henry that Kate is at peace and wants him to get on
with his life. Ashley (Bell) is not hot on the idea
at first, because she considers herself a "real"
psychic and doesn't want to taint her income or
expertise with false messages, but has empathy for
Henry and agrees. The only trouble is ... she starts
liking Henry. Maybe too much. So much so that she
begins feeling guilty about it and... then Kate
shows up. Kate doesn't like the notion of Henry
moving on, and is determined to drive Henry and
Ashley apart. First, she plays a few pranks and then
makes herself known -- and Ashley must decide if she
wants Henry bad enough to risk the potential
consequences.
I really knew nothing about this movie going in and
found it surprisingly sweet in spite of a few
obvious faults. Most of the cast are relatively
unknown -- or at least I was not familiar with them,
except for Eva Longoria Parker who is "infamous" for
her role on the soapy guilty pleasure series
Desperate Housewives. It was fun seeing her in
this part, because it plays off her comedic
abilities while allowing her to have a few touching
moments. Humor is what she does best and this
capitalizes on her ability to charm the audience
while wrecking havoc. Paul Rudd was an all right
leading man but somewhat paled in comparison to his
female counterparts. Lake Bell I had never seen
before and loved -- she's comedic gold as well as
being beautiful and making klutzy seem like the most
natural thing in the world. Some actresses have to
work hard at stumbling over things but she does it
convincingly and more than once made me laugh out
loud. There is a witty script to assist her, of
course -- and Jason Biggs. He has a moment later on
that will make you howl.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few problems with
this charming comedy about the afterlife. The first
is obviously that it revolves around a psychic who
does palm readings and mentions crystal balls and
claims to speak to the dead. She pretends to channel
Kate on several occasions, who eventually has enough
of her shenanigans and puts on a few tricks of her
own -- including levitation, speaking in a deep,
several-voices tone, and rattling windows. Angels
are also present, but one of them becomes irritated
with Kate and deliberately leaves her to wander
earth in an endless search of discovering how she
can move on. (Kate makes the mistake of mouthing
off, and the angel vanishes.) There is a sweet
Catholic priest who gently admonishes Ashley for her
poor church attendance and does his best to expel
Kate from the apartment (she pretends to be
"vanquished" by him, then reappears after he
leaves). He warns Ashley about attempting to contact
the dead and says there will be dark consequences to
her actions. Most of the film covers these aspects
in a lighthearted manner, but some of it might set
your spiritual radar to tingling in a bad way.
There's also a fair amount of sensuality and sexual
content. We see Ashley in a lot of tight, revealing
garments, and once, half-naked when she runs out of
a gym shower with her hands covering her breasts and
a towel around her waist. Ashley and Henry
passionately make out on a bed, while Kate attempts
to distract them. There is some dirty dialogue,
innuendo, sexual references, and a subplot that
revolves around Ashley's friend Dan. She believes he
is gay -- and so has no qualms about changing
clothes in front of him (once stripping down to her
bra). Then she (and the audience) finds out in an
especially funny scene that he isn't actually gay.
There are a handful of mild profanities and one
harsh abuse of deity (GD), along with some mild
abuses of God's name. I thought the humor was fun
and the plot was quirky and unique. But I did not
like the film's attempt to convince me once again
that two characters were "in love" by having them
share a motel room on their third or fourth date.
It's unrealistic and did nothing to convince me of
their feelings.
Over
Her Dead Body (2008)