Why the hell do producers, directors and actors keep thinking the 'dead fiance (or whatever)' is a good idea for a romantic comedy? It's not. None of these recent films dealing with the idea, Catch and Release jumps to mind, can effectively navigate the complex series of emotions that encompass moving on from the death of a loved one and into a new relationship, let alone add in comedic elements. Here we have Eva Longoria who is, for my money, one of the worst actresses I've ever seen. Granted I've not seen but an episode of her work in Desperate Housewives but she was horrible in The Sentinal and Harsh Times and Over Her Dead Body was no exception. It doesn't help that the piss-poor screenplay paints her character terribly. I thought Jason Biggs was a better actor than the stupid comic relief parts he keeps getting for himself these days...it's starting to look like I was wrong. Lake Bell, quite pretty in a real person way, at least seems to be trying. Paul Rudd actually surprised me here. Generally I think I could be content just watching him spew sarcastic comments for an hour and half but here he actually tries to act a bit and he isn't half bad. I also found myself quite a bit put off by the inept use of religion here: why does a Catholic priest perform an exorcism for a ghost when Catholic doctrines says there are no ghosts? Why does the priest use an exorcism as a ploy to get Bell's character to attend mass regularly? Why is 'heaven' an endless white room where a bitchy 'angel' orders people around? Why do drunk drivers and materialistic bitches get to go to heaven? This is a really bad movie made slightly tolerable by an inspired comedic bedroom scene and Rudd's performance.
Overall Score: 3/10
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