Over Her Dead Body provides a lot of laughs, and the two lead actors are adorable. What’s problematic is that it’s unclear who the protagonist is. Kate or Ashley? It seems it should be Kate because she’s the one who needs the bigger transformation, but at-least-equal screen time is given to Ashley. That's a no-no in "Screenwriting 101," where we learn that there should be one clear protagonist, or else audiences are torn between the two and not sure with which character to identify.
The other, more important issue at hand is the worldview. The Bible condemns both fortune-telling and contacting the dead. Also, Ashley is Catholic, but her priest is a totally ineffectual joke (at one point he reads an exorcism script to get rid of Kate). He also shames Ashley because of her lack of church involvement. In addition, fun is poked at Republicans, conversations about oral sex are portrayed and there are some marked scatological humor elements.
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Beyond that, Over Her Dead Body is a bit creepy. Who would want to be kissing a guy and looking up to see his angry, dead fiancée glaring at you? And to what real end? How sad if Kate’s job really was to schlep around the dimension of the living in her wedding dress, spying on their lives!
Finally, (WARNING: Plot Spoiler!), there is a character who really loves Ashley and has proven his loyalty for years. But he doesn’t get to win her hand in the end, and that’s kind of depressing.
Overall, underneath the silly premise and laughs—and despite the notable acting—there's an empty feeling that could go with audiences as they leave, most likely due to the underlying messages and flawed Hollywood worldview. Perhaps Valentine's Day might best be celebrated(and go easier on your wallet!) with the rental of a classic, feel-good love story like An Affair to Remember or Sleepless in Seattle.
CAUTIONS:
- Drugs/Alcohol: Beer drinking portrayed, not to excess.
- Language: A few mild obscenities; some scatological humor.
- Sex & Nudity: Unmarried couple goes away for a weekend of basically sex (nothing overt shown), and a man “talks dirty” to a woman to drown out a ghost’s comments. There is also talk of oral sex.
- Violence: None, beyond comedic.
- Worldview: Psychics are gorgeous and fun and sometimes helpful. The Church and its leaders are shaming and ineffectual. It’s good to have a gay best friend as a shoulder to cry on. It’s not just going to heaven or hell when you die, but you might have to roam around between dimensions with various assignments. There’s nothing worse than a Republican. The end justifies the means.