Prime Time: Over Your Dead Body (2026)

I was hoping to make time for this after finally watching the film that it was based on (The Trip, directed by Tommy Wirkola), but sometimes things aren't meant to be. Which means I saw this was now on Amazon Prime and it seemed like the best way to spend some of my time this past weekend.

Dan (Jason Segel) and Lisa (Samara Weaving) are a married couple who don't love each other any more. Maybe a weekend break will help them. It will certainly help Dan once he's drugged and killed Lisa, then disposed of her body in the nearby lake. Dan isn't too smart though, which allows Lisa to soon cotton on to what he's planning. And she has her own plan. Both of them may try to kill one another, but they might also both be shown exactly how they should do things by three dangerous fugitives (played by Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, and Keith Jardine).

Written by Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, working from the screenplay co-written by Wirkola, Nick Ball, and John Niven, Over Your Dead Body is the kind of film best described as a deliciously dark comedy. It's just a shame that all of the real deliciousness and darkness appears in the third act, and doesn't quite do enough to make up for the disappointments elsewhere in the runtime.

Segel and Weaving are both great performers, but neither of them are doing their best work here. It would have been nice to have more scenes letting them be more vicious to each other, but we instead just get standard griping and poor communication underlining where they both are in their marriage (the end, they're both at the end of it). Everything picks up when a strange trio gatecrash the planned violence, thanks mainly to a typically brilliant turn from Olyphant, although he's almost matched by a lovestruck Lewis. Jardine has to play a strong idiot, which he does fine, but his character is the least interesting of the core selection. The other person to mention is Paul Guilfoyle, playing a grumpy and critical father who believes that a war would be the best thing for his son. Guilfoyle is casually dismissive and careless without seeming loathsome, and he gets a couple of great moments when he comes back into the picture after his earliest scenes.

I've enjoyed some other work from director Jorma Taccone (especially the brilliant Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), but I believe he works better with light and silly fare. Whether it's the source material or the very wobbly tonal tightrope here, he's not able to do as well here. Mind you, I am not sure many people would be able to spin gold from a sequence in which someone is threatened with anal rape if they don't promise to hand over enough money to help some desperate criminals finalise their escape plan.

If you like the stars then you'll get something from this, and there are some fantastic gore gags in the last 15-20 minutes, but it's just a shame that there wasn't more energy running through this. From the dialogue to the score, nothing really works in the first hour that helps it to get anywhere close to being as entertaining as the finale. I'll be interested to see if the original does it any better. 

4/10

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MacGruber (2010)

He's the ultimate tool - that was the tagline on the posters for MacGruber and that sums up this MacGyver spoof, developed from a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Co-written by Will Forte, John Solomon and director Jorma Taccone, MacGruber is the kind of film that you probably already know if you're going to like or not. It's dumb, often crude and certainly not subtle.

Forte stars in the title role, teamed up with Vicki St. Elmo (played by Kristen Wiig) and Lt. Dizon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) as he gets a chance to capture and bring to justice the man responsible for the most tragic day in his life, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer). MacGruber isn't any good with guns, isn't any good with people and isn't any good at . . . . . . well . . . anything. But give him some paperclips, a pen and a jumble of wires and he somehow manages to come good. Sometimes.

I really thought I was going to like MacGruber and was surprised that I was so disappointed by it. I like all of the people involved and when I first heard of the central premise I thought it would be great fun. Sadly, it's not.

I think the main problem with the movie is that they make MacGruber SO useless. You just can't believe that this is a man who ever managed the achievements he is supposed to have under his belt. If this movie struck the kind of balance that, for example, Get Smart managed then it would have been a hell of a lot more fun.

Yes, I did indeed chuckle at the rather amusing use of celery and certainly laughed hard at MacGruber's reaction to the aftermath of an accident involving a hell of a lot of C4 but I didn't find anything that funny about the rest of the movie. Sex scenes played for laughs fell flat, the constant failings of the lead character quickly became annoying and the finale was just one dull moment after another, though I admit that there were intermittent moments of minor mirth.

Phillippe is great as the team-mate who soon realises the sad truth about the man he once idolised while Wiig does raise some laughs thanks to a couple of ridiculous disguises but Forte is saddled with a character who really is only one joke and one that's not all that funny. Kilmer . . . . . . his presence in the movie is frankly bewildering although he admirably goes along with everything that's thrown on screen.

Ironically, a lot more laughter could and should have been generated here but it limps into the distinctly average category and only just avoids being a complete dud.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MacGruber-Blu-ray-Region-Free-Forte/dp/B003XRE4PY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378037524&sr=8-2&keywords=macgruber

Hot Rod (2007)

Personally, I think that Hot Rod is hilarious. It's inconsistent and not one of my favourite comedies of all time, but it's damn good during the many moments when it hits that sweet spot. I also know that many people absolutely hate it so do remember that, just in case you somehow take in my praise of the movie, give it a watch one day and end up hating it so vehemently that you feel the need to track me down at home and urinate all over my movie collection.

Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) is a young man who spends his time creating and taking part in fearless stunts. He's supported by a team that includes his younger brother (Jorma Taccone) and two good friends (Danny McBride and Bill Hader). The only problem is that Rod isn't a very good stuntman. In fact, he's rubbish. When it comes to light that his stepfather (Ian McShane) is very ill, Rod is determined to finally do something right and to raise the money needed to save his life. He will have his own courage, the spirits of the animal kingdom, a number of '80s power ballads and a very cute lady named Denise (Isla Fisher) to help him. But will it be enough?

You either like this kind of comedy or you don't. It's not surprising to learn that this was initially created as a vehicle for Will Ferrell, but Samberg brings the same unrelenting silliness to the role and proves to be fairly likeable in the lead role, even if his character teeters on the edge of being a complete douchebag at times.

Director Akiva Schaffer does a perfectly acceptable job with the material and the script by Pam Brady is full of fun lines, though I assume that a lot of improvisation was also incorporated considering the people involved.

Ian McShane has good fun throwing insults at his onscreen stepson and beating him in many fights, Will Arnett sneers dismissively (and hilariously) at Rod and his chums and there are many great lines and moments from Taccone, McBride, Hader, Fisher, Chester Tam (always dancing and eager to help the troupe) and Chris Parnell (promoting the magic of AM radio). Sissy Spacek may not get as much to do, but she's the kind, calm centre of Rod's life.

Featuring the best use of classic tune "You're The Voice" by John Farnham and a hilariously brilliant spoof of a memorable Footloose scene, this movie may have its heart in the '80s, but it's a comedy that fans may well find themselves revisiting again and again in the future.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Rod-Blu-ray-Sissy-Spacek/dp/B001S3GDQS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1359208278&sr=8-2