Over Her Dead Body (2008)

ReelViews 6 of 10
To fashion an endearing romantic comedy, there are only a few simple rules to be followed: find two likeable leads whose chemistry sizzles, provide them with a simple framework that allows them to gradually fall for each other in such a way that the audience roots for the love affair, and inject elements of wit and intelligence into the screenplay. Over Her Dead Body, the feature debut of director Jeff Lowell (who has the dubious distinction of being the credited writer for John Tucker Must Die), misses every one of those precepts. The result, while not horrifically bad, is as mediocre a motion picture as you're likely to find in a multiplex this season. It's tough to hate the movie because it doesn't generate enough emotion for that kind of passion. It's inept but, in the wake of The Hottie & the Nottie, this year's gold standard for cinematic awfulness, one tends to regard other less-than-successful motion pictures like this one with more kindness...The movie at least ends on the right note, although it's hardly surprising how it gets there. A potentially poignant secondary plot gets a happy ending it doesn't earn, but that's not unusual for a fairy tale that wants to avoid discomfort. Over Her Dead Body is strictly TV fare - the kind of thing you could watch late at night after a long bout of channel surfing and not feel too guilty about it (if you stay awake). - James Berardinelli