There are movies I watch because I think they’re going to be good.
There are movies I watch because I know they’re probably going to be terrible.
Then there are movies like Over Your Dead Body, where the premise is just uncomfortably cute enough that I think, Okay. This could actually be fun.
The previews made me laugh. Jason Segel. Samara Weaving. Juliette Lewis. Timothy Olyphant. A ridiculous premise. Dark humor. What could go wrong?
Apparently, quite a bit.
The Trailer May Have Been Enough
As expected, I laughed a few times.
Unfortunately, most of those laughs came from things I’d already laughed at in the previews.
That’s always a problem with a comedy. If you’re going to show me your best jokes for free, you’d better have another stash waiting when I sit through the entire movie.
Over Your Dead Body didn’t have nearly enough waiting.
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. The premise had potential, and there are moments when you can see the fun movie it could have been.
But everything just felt so…overdone.
It felt like everyone had been given instructions to make sure we understood that THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY and THIS SITUATION IS FUNNY.
I got it.
You can stop now.
Sometimes funny needs room to be funny. This movie seemed afraid that if it stopped waving its arms for thirty seconds, we might forget we were watching a comedy.
Jason. I Expected More.
Samara Weaving was okay. I don’t really have a complaint about her performance. She did what the movie asked her to do.
Jason Segel, though?
I don’t know if the problem is that I’ve come to expect more from him at this point or what.
He wasn’t terrible. That’s not really the issue.
I’ve just seen him be funnier. I’ve seen him be more endearing. I’ve seen him bring something to characters that makes me want to keep watching them.
Here, I kept waiting for that something.
I’m still waiting.
And Then There Was Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is one of those actress actresses to me.
Give her a character, and she’s going to commit to that character. Even when everything around her is turned up a couple of notches too high, I can usually find something to enjoy in what she’s doing.
That was absolutely the case here.
I also enjoyed Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal of his character. There were pieces of this movie that worked. That’s what makes the whole thing more frustrating.
There was something here.
It just needed someone willing to say, Maybe we don’t need quite so much.
Take some of the extra out. Trust the actors. Trust the premise. Trust the audience to recognize a joke without putting flashing lights around it.
I honestly think I would have enjoyed it more.
Was It Worth It?
When the movie ended, I didn’t feel angry.
I felt like I’d wasted time and brain cells I could have expended elsewhere.
Which is saying a lot for a disabled person with nothing to do.
That’s the real tragedy here.
I went in willing to have a stupid-fun time. I wasn’t demanding cinematic greatness. I wasn’t expecting my life to be changed.
Just entertain me.
Instead, I watched a movie trying so hard to entertain me that it forgot to actually do it.
The NAJ Rating: 🥫🥫 Two Cans
I’m giving Over Your Dead Body 2 out of 6 NAJ cans.
One of those cans belongs entirely to Juliette Lewis for being the reason I sat through the whole thing.
The other can can be divided among Samara Weaving being okay, Timothy Olyphant being enjoyable, the handful of laughs the trailer hadn’t already spoiled, and a premise that deserved a better movie.
Jason Segel?
Jason. I expected more.
Final Verdict
I watched it so you don’t have to.
And Juliette Lewis?
This can’s for you. 🥫