Over Your Dead Body review
A game cast carries a thin premise far enough to entertain.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Over Your Dead Body
Directed by Jorma Taccone
Screenplay by Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney
Starring Samara Weaving, Jason Segel, Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, Paul Guilfoyle, Keith Jardine and Andy Cohen
Over Your Dead Body Review
Sometimes you see a cast list and know you’re going to be in good hands. This is specifically true in genre movies. It’s important to “understand the assignment” as the kids said maybe 15 years ago. I don’t know what they say now. Probably something equally stupid. Over Your Dead Body has a fun premise but it’s the cast list that tells you there’s a high enough floor to trust it with your time. Samara Weaving is almost always the best part of whatever project she’s in. While Over Your Dead Body isn’t a horror movie, per se…she is able to put some of her killer final girl energy to work here. Jason Segel is always good at playing a frustrated but likable character. Even while the latter is tested by Over Your Dead Body’s story…you still can’t help but like him.
With two solid leads in place, Over Your Dead Body could coast on their particular charms while barely scratching the surface of the story’s “married couple who want to kill each other” premise. And it does. Honestly, most of the battle between Lisa (Weaving) and Dan (Segel) feels like it was shown in the trailer. There are more bickering scenes and more passive aggressive quips…and to be fair, those are maybe the best part of their tete-a-tete…but the movie doesn’t linger on their personal battle for that long. Instead, it introduces another trio of characters to throw a wrench into the couple’s bloody plans.
The good casting continues with what rapidly becomes the A-plot of Over Your Dead Body. A pair of convicts have escaped with the help of their correction’s officer…and they, of course, cross paths with the embattled couple. Timothy Olyphant and Juliette Lewis play one of the convicts and the correction officer, respectively. Two actors who always deliver exactly what the material needs them to. Former UFC fighter Keith Jardine plays the other escapee…and he’s the movie’s real surprise. He obviously brings a physically imposing stature to the character…but he’s also really funny. Jardine has been acting for years (he even wrote and directed a movie last year) but he delivers an eye opening performance here. Playing off of the wild eyed Lewis and cocksure Olyphant…he provides a perfect third foil for the now, unfortunately, united couple.
There is something interesting about the idea of amateur prospective murderers having to deal with professional ones. Over Your Dead Body struggles to turn it into more than a fairly entertaining ride, however. It cakes on the blood and gore when the time comes…and it has enough laughs to keep itself feeling lively. But it’s missing something at its core. It skates by on the work of its five characters instead of finding more fun ways to use them. It eventually gets there, don’t get me wrong. It just takes a surprisingly long time to let the real violence ensue. And when it does…it’s no longer coming from the couple’s battle with each other. The overall plot of Over Your Dead Body becomes a bit predictable after they’re given common enemies to face…even if the movie tries to make its violence and deaths as shocking as possible.
The structure of Over Your Dead Body is pretty fun though. Something crazy will happen to upset the status quo we’ve been watching…and the move will jump back in time to catch us up on how we got there from a different perspective. It’s a neat storytelling device that allows the movie to feel less contained than it actually is.
I’m not sure what the ceiling on a movie like Over Your Dead Body is supposed to be…but I know that this version of the story settles for slightly above the floor. A game cast elevates the material…which just a nice way of saying the material itself was pretty lacking. It’s fun…and often funny. That’s enough to have a find time watching it. And, honestly, most movies don’t really need to be more than that. There was probably a more interesting path to take with Lisa and Dan than the one Over Your Dead Body takes…but we’ll never know for sure. What we do know is that you can’t really go wrong with a cast like this. Even if the story decides it’s not that interested in going anywhere that great.
Scare Value
Over Your Dead Body settles for pretty good or good enough. Which isn’t really a negative…a pretty good movie is still a pretty good movie. When you have a cast giving you as much as this one, however, a few more interesting scenarios could have elevated things to another level. Until the bloody and fun climax, Over Your Dead Body seems content to introduce a new normal to the proceedings and then play in that sandbox for a while. It’s good for the actors…they have the time and space to deliver. It just doesn’t always make for the best movie.
3/5
Over Your Dead Body Link
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