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Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs. Comedy. Written & directed by Jeff Lowell.

FILM SYNOPSIS: Devastated when his fiancée, Kate (Eva Longoria Parker), is killed on their wedding day (crushed by a falling ice sculpture), Henry (Paul Rudd) reluctantly agrees to consult a psychic named Ashley (Lake Bell) at the urging of his sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane). Despite his skepticism over her psychic abilities, Henry finds himself falling hard for Ashley, and vice versa. But there is a big snag. Ashley is being haunted by Kate’s ghost, who considers it her heavenly duty to break up Henry and Ashley’s fledging romance, if it is the last thing she does on this earthly plane...

PREVIEW REVIEW: I am grateful when a studio delivers a film during the first two months of the year that catches the imagination and tickles the funny bone. I’ve come not to expect it. Alas, Over Her Dead Body is not one of those welcome surprises. Despite the promise of the title, this is one of those films studios stuff into movie theaters in January and February while talented movie makers and real movie stars complete summer blockbusters and year-end award contenders.

The concept of ghosts haunting numbskulls has been around since Topper. Here, that concept and the story structure suffer from what I call TV-itis. TV-itis is an ailment which numbs the part of the brain that distinguishes between wit and sit-com klutziness. The writing may be okay for home entertainment, where phone disruptions and children’s needs don’t necessarily cause viewers to lose sight of the storyline. Once these projects are given the big screen treatment, however, audiences can clearly see through the plot holes and the absurdity that’s meant to pass as comic calamity.

Here’s a symptom of TV-itis found in Over Her Dead Body. The comic sidekick is thought to be gay. But maybe he’s not. Maybe he just pretends to be for five years so he can be the best friend of the woman he secretly loves. Oh, I know that doesn’t make since. That’s TV-itis at its most insidious.

Here’s another example of how TV-itis has stricken writer/director Jeff Lowell. When the sidekick’s arm catches on fire during a cooking mishap, he plunges it into a huge pot of boiling water, then rants around the room like Ralph Kramden. That’s what I said, his arm catches on fire. Seeing a human being on fire – that’s always classic.

Much of the film’s humor runs in that vein. The ghost causes one embarrassing situation after another, making everyone in the story think the other female lead is nuts. And how does the victim of this supernatural harassment handle these embarrassing moments? Well, think back to each episode of I Love Lucy. Trouble is, Ms. Lake is no Lucy. And I suspect the crudeness of the situations here would have been discarded by Lucy’s writing staff.

As this review is already more time consuming than the film deserves, suffice it to say, my theory that no one sets out to make a bad movie has once again been tested.

DVD Alternative: Topper with Cary Grant, Constance Bennett and Roland Young, and directed with style and class by Norman McLeod. Unsettled ghosts return to earth to dominate then befriend a meak businessman. I realize it’s really old (made in 1937), and in black and white to boot. I mention it because a few weeks ago a young publicist told me she loved it. So, maybe there are those who will watch a clever and funny film despite its age.

Want a stupid one, but funny due to its star? Try The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with Don Knotts. Remember, I told you it’s stupid. Or Ghostbusters. The first one has some objectionable material, but there are also a few positives – there’s a reverential discussion about Jesus and the movie is funny.

Distributor: New Line Cinema