Over Her Dead Body – DVD Review

No genre of film is more formulaic and predictable than the the romantic comedy a.k.a. the “chick flick”. The names may change, but usually the basic story is the same. There is just enough wackiness to make people laugh, but even more romance to make women cry or go “awww” a few times. So you have to respect a movie that tries to be different and gives an unique take on this genre of film. Still, as is the case with Over Her Dead Body, that doesn’t make the movie automatically great or even better than every other romantic comedy out there.

In Over Her Dead Body, a woman named Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) gets crushed by an ice sculpture on her wedding day and comes back from the dead to make sure her fiance, Henry (Paul Rudd), never finds love with anyone else. Unfortunately for Kate, Henry’s sister has dragged him to see Ashley (Lake Bell), a psychic who revives Henry’s will to romance. Ashley is the only person who can see Kate, a fact that Kate uses to her advantage and makes Ashley’s life miserable.

Eva Longoria Parker is the leading star of this film on paper. She has never played a really likable character, and she is not one here. That makes her great for the role, but the problem is being a bitch doesn’t help the story. Why would Henry want to marry a woman like this to begin with? That being said you can’t fault Eva for her acting as she does what she does best. Paul Rudd is excellent as usual as the real “star” of the film. He is quite funny and his chemistry with Lake Bell, who is equally as funny, is fantastic. Jason Biggs also has a strong supporting role as well, but again his character is completely stereotypical and predictable.

The writers of this film have an interesting idea for a film, but they don’t do a whole lot with it. If you can suspend disbelief and actually believe that someone would want to marry Kate, then you will probably find this movie entertaining enough. But again don’t expect to be surprised by anything that occurs on the screen. This is still your typical romantic comedy with a new twist to reel in viewers.

The video is given in both 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen color, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs, and 1.33:1 fullscreen on the same side. The video is decent enough, but won’t blow you away. Still no major problems here.

The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound or English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English and Spanish as well. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear, so no major problems here either. Like the video, though, the audio is just average at best.

There are ZERO extras here, unless you count the trailer or previews for other films, which I don’t.

Over Her Dead Body attempts to be something different, but in the end it’s just a slightly better than average romantic comedy. The actors all try hard, so you can’t blame them. The story is just not as strongly written as it could have been. I can only recommend a rental for fans of this genre of film.

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New Line Home Video presents Over Her Dead Body. Directed and Written by Jeff Lowell. Starring Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs, and Lindsay Sloane. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG-13. Released on DVD: May 6, 2008. Available at Amazon.com