SYNOPSIS: Devastated when his fiancée Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) is killed on their wedding day, 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 fledgling romance, if it is the last thing she does on this earthly plane...

REVIEW: This movie is about as cliché as the title. Doesn’t necessarily mean it was bad, just cliché. I have to admit that it takes a lot for me not to like a movie at all. Where most critics trash most movies, I’m the opposite; I give all movies the benefit of the doubt. The way I see it, I go to the movies to be entertained and if the movie does just enough to entertain me, well then the movie wasn’t that bad. Such is the case with this one. To use an expression that both Priscilla and I frequent, this is one of those movies that you have to take at face value. What you see is what you get. It’s as good as you would expect it to be, no more no less. Overall the movie was cute. Some parts were lame and corny while others were fresh and very funny. I did laugh out loud a few times and there were a few moments where I was disappointed. If you decide to go see this film, be sure to not have high expectations.

The character development is bland at best. There is not a whole lot of background given about any of them, especially the relationship between Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) and Henry (Paul Rudd) and however meaningful it might have been. This would have helped with the story development in regards to a better understanding of what’s driving Kate’s determination to disrupt the new relationship between Henry and Ashley (Lake Bell). The characters are mostly presented as "matter-of-fact" with focus on the story at hand. The actors, on the other hand, helped make the film livelier. Eva does a good job as an obsessive, control freak. I haven’t seen Desperate Housewives that much, but I believe there are some similarities. I guess she is good at that. She’s also good at looking good. Speaking of looking good, Lake Bell as Ashley was truly a breath of fresh air; performance as well as looks. Being that she is not a popular face on the big screen, I was pleasantly surprised and can sense that we will be seeing a lot more of her. (And I have to say that she’s got eyes that you can swim in!) When it comes to this kind of movie, you can always count on Paul Rudd to give a really good performance . . . no exception here. People might overlook that he has quite the resume.

Even though the script at times was right on, and at other times it wasn’t, the overall humor was pretty good. There was good use of physical humor too. Starting with the "departure from the wedding" by Kate, there were plenty of hilarious situations and moments of classic humor that just don’t get old. For a movie of this genre, the special effects were pretty decent, not spectacular but decent. When I think of other movies that this one reminds me of, the first one that comes to mind is Just Like Heaven. If you’ve seen that one and liked it, there is a good chance you will like this one even though Just Like Heaven was a better movie with stronger performances. Just Like Heaven is a lot more dramatic where this movie is more comical and light-hearted. This being the directorial debut for Writer Jeff Lowell, it could have been worse . . . it could have been better too. Oh well, keep trying Jeff.

Review By Cine Marcos 
cinemarcos@smartcine.com

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