Dan (Jason Segel), a schlubby film director, and his wife, Lisa (Samara Weaving), an actress, hate each other’s guts. So it’s not entirely a shock when Dan, who schemes to kill Lisa and throw her body in the lake near their holiday cabin, finds himself knocked out and tied up by his would-be victim. The two broke B-listers had the same bright idea — murder the other for the insurance money — but 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 cozy sweater gags, while time skips add to the film’s cheeky whiplash. If only more than a handful of the screwy stunts Taccone throws onscreen actually landed.
After the criminals — including the smooth-talking Pete (Timothy Olyphant), the meat head Todd (Keith Jardine), and the manic Allegra (Juliette Lewis), a prison guard convinced she’s Pete’s girlfriend — make themselves known, the film devolves into a numbing back-and-forth of bloody face-offs. At best, these outlandishly violent fights feel like surreal cartoons; and then there’s lame throwaways such as one involving Dan’s father (Paul Guilfoyle) attempting his best Clint Eastwood impersonation.
It’s not clear whether we’re meant to root for the detestable main couple until an attempted rape scene — played for nervous laughs — sloppily recalibrates our sympathies and predictably shuttles their relationship into its reconciliation phase. Intentionally juvenile humor can have a way of breaking down even the stoniest viewer with the right levels of sincerity and self-awareness, but the film (a remake of the Norwegian thriller “The Trip”) is too slick and giddy about its own crudity to nurture these elements. When it does strike the balance, it pokes fun at the self-importance of Hollywood spectacles and their makers: In one scene, Pete realizes Dan is the director of one of his favorite movies. Neat! And then he continues to torture him.
Over Your Dead Body Rated R for gruesome violence and attempted rape. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.
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