Heard of this one way back in '06 when it came out, and always wanted to see it, but never got around to doing so until now. In short, it's fantastic, a road-trip movie set in a limbo populated entirely by suicides. Sort of like a modern-day
Carnivà le, only without the Good vs. Evil angle, which is entirely appropriate for our jaded, electronic age.
It's also a great contemporary love story. The trouble with crafting modern love stories is that, once two people realize they're into each other, what can get in their way? Sexuality? Religion? Class? Background? All relatively easily overcome. Now, how about
this for an obstacle facing two young potential lovers: they're both dead. Not bad, huh?
A
Here's another modern love story, with a different obstacle: the lovers live on opposite coasts, and can't afford to move.
This is a pretty good rom-com. Its narrative realism makes it unconventional, but everything else about it, from the wacky sidekicks to the gags at the expense of spouses who hate each other, is utterly ordinary. Still, while there are no ridiculous plot contrivances keeping the pair apart, they do conveniently fail to talk things through in person at least twice - once I can buy, but
twice is stretching it. Not a classic like
Wristcutters, but it'll do just fine.
B+