Over her dead body

Desperate Housewives fans may be eager to see Eva Longoria Parker in her new film, Over Her Dead Body. Unfortunately, fans and hormone-raging males will be disappointed to learn the temptress dies within the film's first 10 minutes.

Over Her Dead Body opens as an atypical romantic comedy. On her wedding day, Kate (Eva Longoria Parker), an ill-tempered perfectionist, meets her death at the hands of an ice sculpture shaped into an angel. After Kate's abrupt and ironic death, her fiancée, Henry (Paul Rudd) becomes so devastated that he doesn't leave his apartment for over a year. His sister, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane), desperate to help, finally decides to intervene by taking him to see a psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), who communicates, mostly unsuccessfully, with the dead.

Ashley and Henry predictably hit it off, but Kate's ghost effectively communicates with Ashley. The ghost threatens to unrelentlessly pester Ashley until she leaves Henry. Kate's entertaining antics, albeit poorly conceived by the writers, compose much of the film's humor. These include tricking Ashley into thinking there is an emergency during her shower at the gym, causing her to run outside in the buff, ending in total embarrassment. Parker, as a vengeful ghost, is unsurprisingly similar to her TV role as the ultra stubborn Gabrielle Solis, showing little range for the actress.

Ashley's not-so-gay best friend, Dan (Jason Biggs), an over-the-top but lovable character, adds the most humor to the film. He is easy to empathize with as he gets tortured throughout the movie. Surprisingly, Biggs eclipses Rudd's charm and humor, which are well played but fall flat.

The unconvincing plot makes it difficult to imagine Kate as a ghost who only Ashley can see. Also, Kate's wicked ways make it hard to imagine she was ever with the considerate Henry in the first place. Ashley and Henry clearly make the better couple, yet it's amusing to see Kate complicate their relationship.

Overall, the movie is entertaining, but not the best choice for a Valentine's Day film. By no means is Over Her Dead Body your usual cutesy romantic comedy, but its revenge-themed twist on the genre may be inspiring for those looking for ideas on how to get back at their exes come Singles' Awareness Day.