When miserable couple Dan and Lisa retreat to a remote cabin for a romantic reset, each arrives with a secret plan to kill the other.
Chuc says:
On Monday, April 20th, an op-ed appeared in the New York times titled, “Movies are Bullying Us with Their Blout,” by Frank Bruni. In it, the author harps on a complaint I’ve had with American movies for quite some time, their needless length. He points out the average running time for a film was 95 minutes in 1989. Today, it’s 116.
It was good to see that I wasn’t the only one who noticed, far too often, a sense of numbness setting into their legs at the multiplex. Longtime readers of my reviews are well aware that I’ve been noting this trend and how it’s been getting worse for years now. And just to clarify – it’s the not the running time I object to, it’s what a filmmaker does with that time.
“Ben-Hur” (1959) clocks in at 212 minutes, “Gone with the Wind” (1939) at 238, and “Titanic” (1997) at 194, each of these films keeping my and many other viewers’ interest from the first minute to the last. Each follow Howard Hawks’ maxim that every scene should move the story forward, each of them absent of repetitious or superfluous moments which cause a story to stall, my patience to wane and my ire to rise.
You’ve probably surmised by now that I’ve sat through yet another movie that overstays its welcome and you would be correct. Jorma Taccone’s otherwise serviceable dark comedy, “Over Your Dead Body” is the latest production to tax my patience, a film that for the most part I liked…until, I didn’t. Smartly written, well-acted, and far more clever than I expected, the movie breezes along with a sense of confidence that’s endearing, its brand of meta-humor complimenting its gruesome premise.
Based on Norwegian thriller, the story opens with Dan (Jason Segel), a disillusioned director of commercials, talking to his assistant about his upcoming weekend. He has a getaway to the mountains planned with his wife, Lisa (Samara Weaving) and makes too fine a point on the fact his partner plans on taking a very dangerous hike. Truth is, she has no such intention, as Dan is planting the first of many too obvious seeds for an alibi, he anticipates needing as he plans on killing Lisa. Problem is, she’s aware of his plan and turns the tables on her would be assassin, tasing Dan and binding him tight before revealing her plans for him. Seems she too has a plan to dispose of her spouse and is all too eager to put it into action.
The interactions between the two leads are very good. The vitriol they spew at each other so overwrought you can’t help but laugh, Segel and Weaving’s sharp timing allowing just enough time for each joke to laugh before moving to the next. They’re capable enough to carry a film on their own had this been a tight, two-hander.
But alas, that is not the case as they are interrupted by two escaped cons, Pete and Todd (Timothy Olyphant and Keith Jardine) and Allegra (Juliette Lewis), the lovestruck guard who aided and abetted them with a vengeance. Having found refuge in the couple’s cabin before they arrived, the three fugitives have stayed in hiding, watching their ineffectual attempts at murder, before circumstances reveal their presence.
What ensues is a hostage situation and many – far too many – thwarted escape attempts by Dan and Lisa. Thankfully Olyphant, Jardine and Lewis are on the same wavelength as the three leads, their timing and sly comic delivery on par with theirs. Also effective are the numerous flashbacks in Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney’s script, the story’s many twists explained by one pithy, ironic backward narrative glance after another.There’s no denying the energy present in the script’s execution and performances.
However, that begins to wane in the third act which, as you probably guessed, goes on far too long. Dan can only overlook a loaded rifle or get beaten up so many times before disbelief sets in regarding his bad luck or ineffectualness. The many missed opportunities mount up until they become desperate, while the final dual between our hero and Pete lacks suspense due to its prolonged nature.
Look, I like chocolate but were I to apply the “more-is-more” approach of modern filmmakers to my diet, I’d constantly be in the toilet. It’s unfortunate that so many modern movies end up there because today’s directors don’t recognize when enough is enough. For the most part, I liked “Dead,” but once it started to repeat itself, like my dog fetching the same ball over and over again for a half hour, my interest couldn’t help but wane.
2 1/2 Stars
