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Despite the ups and downs that Desperate Housewives has gone through—its good seasons and bad—I’ve faithfully watched every last episode. But even a devoted Desperate Housewives fan like me couldn’t get into the spirit of Eva Longoria Parker’s new movie, Over Her Dead Body.
Longoria Parker’s character, Kate, is a lot like her Desperate Housewives character, Gabrielle. Like Gabrielle, Kate is spoiled and demanding and selfish. And even after she’s crushed to death on her wedding day, she’s still determined to control everything—especially her fiancé, Henry (Paul Rudd).
A year after Kate’s death, Henry is still heartbroken. Thinking that it’s time for him to move on, Henry’s sister, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane), takes him to a psychic, hoping that Kate will speak to him from beyond and tell him to move on and be happy. But Kate doesn’t really want Henry to be happy—and she definitely doesn’t want him to move on. So when he starts falling for Ashley (Lake Bell), the psychic, Kate’s ghost returns to wreak havoc on Ashley’s life.
As one of a handful of characters on an hour-long show, Longoria Parker’s slightly irritating TV persona is tolerable—sometimes even entertaining. Sure, she’s spoiled and whiny, but at least there are other characters on the show to even her out. Unfortunately, the only other female characters in Over Her Dead Body are just as annoying, each in her own special way. Chloe is nosy and meddling and manipulative. Ashley is clueless and whiny—and her whole relationship with Henry is built on a lie that she refuses to confess. Throw in a screeching ghost with an attitude, and you’ve got yourself a deadly combination.
Only Paul Rudd manages to make it through the movie with most of his dignity still intact. His character clearly has horrible taste in women—and he’s pushed around by his sister, who seems to have nothing better to do. But Rudd is, by far, the best thing about this movie. Though he’s not given a whole lot to work with, he makes the best of it. His character may be weak and pretty pathetic, but at least he’s still lovable—and you can’t help but feel sorry for the poor guy. By the end, I just wanted the other characters to go away (or, as my colleague Kevin Carr suggested, get hit by a bus) and leave the poor guy alone already.
Aside from Rudd, though (and perhaps the parrot, who’s the only other likeable character in the movie), there’s just not much to like about this predictable, cliché-crammed chick flick. Granted, it has a few amusing moments, but you’ll have to sit through a whole lot of painful moments to get to them. So if the writers’ strike has you desperately missing Eva, you’d be wise to pass on Over Her Dead Body and re-watch the first three seasons of Desperate Housewives on DVD instead.
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