Kate (Eva Longoria Parker, Desperate Housewives) isn't so much enjoying her wedding day as she is ruling it. Despite mild-mannered fiance Henry's (Paul Rudd, Knocked Up) best attempts to get her to relax, she is stressing everyone involved out completely. The straw that breaks the camel's back is when her angel ice sculpture is lacking its wings. While chasing the ice sculptor down, she is crushed by the enormous statue, only to find herself dead, and on her wedding day no less. After her rude attitude pisses off the angel who is supposed to advise her during her transition, she finds herself stuck on earth, with some mission to do, but she doesn't know what. Meanwhile, Henry is so devastated by losing Kate, he refuses to move on and spends his days being anti-social and holing up in his apartment. His sister, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane), is convinced that her friend, Ashley (Lake Bell, Boston Legal) can use her part-time psychic abilities to help Henry get out of his year-long funk. Henry, a veterinarian and a man of science, pooh-poohs the whole thing, so Chloe swipes Kate's diary from Henry's apartment and schemes with Ashley to give Henry a few tidbits "that only he and Kate would know" to convince him of her authenticity. All in his best interest, of course.
The crazy thing is, Ashley really does make contact with Kate. Not only that, Kate steps in to save Henry from Ashley, thinking she just might be after Henry for herself, not simply to help him move on. Kate first tricks Ashley into believing she has brought her a message from the "other side", but Ashley soon discovers just what a scheming witch Kate is, dead or not. Unfortunately, Ashley really does find herself falling for Henry. When Kate challenges her to stay away from him, Ashley fights back and tries her best to win Henry over. When Henry succumbs to her charms, all of Kate's hell breaks loose and the results are hilarious as she pulls out all the stops to make a fool of Ashley and drive her away.
Jason Biggs (American Pie) is simply adorable as Ashley's catering business partner and "gay" best friend. Turns out he is in love with her too! The entire cast is really terrific, actually. Paul Rudd seems to be perfect in every role he plays and I never tire of watching him. Lake Bell is new to me, but she really reminded me of a younger Sandra Bullock, like from her Miss Congeniality days. Her expressions are priceless and she's one of those physical comediennes, really throwing herself into the role of Ashley. Eva Longoria Parker does a stellar job as the reviled Kate, who eventually softens in the end. While lean on the special features (ok, non-existent, actually), this movie is pure comedy gold and will have you laughing out loud at the awkward situations. Highly recommended.
