In 'over Your Dead Body,' A Couple That Plots Violent Marital Separation Meets Its Match

In nan first of respective important flashbacks successful “Over Your Dead Body,” Samara Weaving’s unhappy Lisa complains to a friend astir a hunting travel her arsenic miserable hubby Dan (Jason Segel) is taking her on. “You cognize really overmuch I dislike guns,” Lisa fumes. “So dangerous.” Turns out, she’s really telling 2 lies, which is par for nan people for this twisty yet underwhelming acheronian drama that views matrimony arsenic some a hyperviolent humor athletics and a conflict to nan death.

Based connected Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola’s 2021 “The Trip,” “Over Your Dead Body” concerns a mates whose wedded bliss has faded on pinch their master prospects. Dan directed a moderately successful sci-fi movie respective years agone but is now stuck shooting cheesy pop-up ads. Meanwhile, Lisa’s nascent acting profession is flailing. As nan movie begins, Dan conspicuously informs his accumulation squad that he and his woman are going hiking successful nan mediate of obscurity — something, he insists, nan risk-taking Lisa wants to do, contempt really perilous that mightiness be. What we soon recognize is that he’s creating screen for his nefarious plan, which is to termination Lisa astatine his family’s wood cottage, making it look for illustration she vanished without a trace successful nan woods.

But head Jorma Taccone yet reveals that it’s not conscionable Dan who has execution connected his mind. That first flashback rewinds to Lisa’s simultaneous scheming, claiming to those adjacent to her that Dan longs to spell hunting — when, successful fact, she’s secretly brought a firearm truthful that nan authorities will presume he accidentally changeable himself. (Whatever fears she erstwhile harbored astir firearms are, clearly, nary longer an issue, if they ever were.) Dan is offended erstwhile he uncovers her plot: Why would she want to termination him? At slightest he’s justified, he believes, having caught Lisa successful an matter pinch her segment partner.

More surprises are successful shop arsenic Dan and Lisa prosecute successful a deadly standoff successful nan cabin, only to observe that they’re not alone. Another flashback specifications really 2 convicted killers, Todd (Keith Jardine) and Pete (Timothy Olyphant), escaped from a section penitentiary pinch nan thief of Pete’s girlfriend, situation defender Allegra (Juliette Lewis), and are seeking refuge astatine nan cottage. Suddenly, nan feuding joined mates must activity together to enactment alive.

One-third of nan drama troupe nan Lonely Island, Taccone antecedently directed nan big-screen adjustment of nan “Saturday Night Live” sketch “MacGruber” and co-directed nan endlessly rewatchable mockumentary “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” For “Over Your Dead Body,” he teams pinch shaper David Leitch, whose 87North shingle specializes successful R-rated action-comedies for illustration “Nobody” and “Violent Night.” Taccone’s irreverent, slyly shocking style would look a bully lucifer for a communicative successful which nan symptom of romanticist discontent is paired pinch myriad scenes successful which a assortment of weapons wreak grisly havoc, including lawnmowers, sports cars, farming instrumentality and a sock pinch a excavation shot successful it.

But contempt Segel and Weaver’s champion efforts, they can’t make this bickering duo deliciously awful, nan characters proving much grating than hilariously combustible. And erstwhile Pete and his cohorts arrive, they’re excessively broadly quirky to beryllium either menacing aliases hysterical, though Olyphant’s long-suffering leader has immoderate bully moments slow processing really dumb Todd and Allegra are.

Other than 1 queasy homage to “Deliverance,” nan film’s handling of nan showdown betwixt this drab joined mates and nan cartoonish criminals is seldom gripping. Instead, “Over Your Dead Body” delivers over-the-top conflict sequences emphasizing grimaces and gross-out laughs. People aren’t simply changeable successful nan caput — nan slug transforms it into a gooey slab of meat. Fingers get sliced off, stakes are driven done hands and a ft is reduced to bloody tatters. Taccone handles each this pinch gleeful excessiveness but erstwhile you’ve seen 1 pulverized face, you’ve seen them all.

A droll irony is intended to unfold alongside nan rising assemblage count. Dan and Lisa embarked connected this getaway to execution 1 another, but they’ll extremity up rekindling their love. To beryllium sure, Segel and Weaving are overmuch much winning erstwhile their characters commencement warming to 1 another. Still, nan movie feels for illustration a missed opportunity for Weaving, who became a shriek queen successful nan “Ready aliases Not” films. In those movies, arsenic an unsuspecting bride thrust into a life-or-death situation, she appealingly balanced a convincing beingness capacity pinch an understated comedic streak, her beleaguered characteristic enduring 1 absurdity aft another.

Weaving finds herself successful a somewhat akin domiciled successful “Over Your Dead Body” and this uneven action-comedy is anchored by her had-it-up-to-here performance, which provides a witty penetration into matrimony that nan movie different ignores. It’s bad capable that Lisa has to woody pinch Dan’s insecurity — now she’s sewage to tangle pinch immoderate dopey crooks? Women person to do everything successful a relationship.