Dan (Jason Segel), a schlubby movie director, and his spouse, Lisa (Samara Weaving), an actress, hate one another’s guts. So it’s not totally a shock when Dan, who schemes to kill Lisa and throw her physique within the lake close to their vacation cabin, finds himself knocked out and tied up by his would-be sufferer. The two broke B-listers had the identical vivid thought — homicide the opposite for the insurance coverage cash — however neither imagined they’d be thwarted by a trio of escaped convicts.
Escalating absurdity is the hallmark of “Over Your Dead Body,” a gory action-comedy by the Lonely Islander Jorma Taccone. Bodily mutilations commingle with Harry Potter references and comfy sweater gags, whereas time skips add to the movie’s cheeky whiplash. If solely greater than a handful of the screwy stunts Taccone throws onscreen truly landed.
After the criminals — together with the smooth-talking Pete (Timothy Olyphant), the meat head Todd (Keith Jardine), and the manic Allegra (Juliette Lewis), a jail guard satisfied she’s Pete’s girlfriend — make themselves recognized, the movie devolves right into a numbing back-and-forth of bloody face-offs. At greatest, these outlandishly violent fights really feel like surreal cartoons; after which there’s lame throwaways reminiscent of one involving Dan’s father (Paul Guilfoyle) trying his greatest Clint Eastwood impersonation.
It’s not clear whether or not we’re meant to root for the detestable major couple till an tried rape scene — performed for nervous laughs — sloppily recalibrates our sympathies and predictably shuttles their relationship into its reconciliation section. Intentionally juvenile humor can have a approach of breaking down even the stoniest viewer with the suitable ranges of sincerity and self-awareness, however the movie (a remake of the Norwegian thriller “The Trip”) is simply too slick and giddy about its personal crudity to nurture these parts. When it does strike the steadiness, it pokes enjoyable on the self-importance of Hollywood spectacles and their makers: In one scene, Pete realizes Dan is the director of one in every of his favourite motion pictures. Neat! And then he continues to torture him.
Over Your Dead Body
Rated R for ugly violence and tried rape. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.
