Burying the Ex (2014)
I shouldn’t have to write this, but I’m a huge Joe Dante fan. What horror fan isn’t? Dante is the director of such classics as 1978s PIRANHA, 1981s THE HOWLING, one of the segments in 1983s TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, and 1984s GREMLINS, to name a few. Previous to his most recent release, BURYING THE EX, the last feature film Dante directed was 2009s THE HOLE. THE HOLE had the same vibe as 1987s THE GATE and was definitely made for a younger audience (young teens). This isn’t a critique of THE HOLE and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Unfortunately I couldn’t connect with BURYING THE EX and didn’t enjoy it one bit.
BURYING THE EX stars Anton Yelchin as Max, a rather pussy-whipped guy who is going out with Evelyn (Ashley Greene), a raging bitch who uses sex and the death of her mother (who died many years ago) to manipulate Max. Early in the film we experience their dysfunctional relationship firsthand and you’ll be asking Max over and over again what he sees in her. Max works in a horror-themed store and one day unpacks a devil bobble-head. He and Evelyn express their undying love for each other and promise to one another that they’ll always be together. Forever.
Do you see where this is headed?
After Evelyn berates and belittles the owner of an ice cream shop, Olivia (Alexandra Daddario), and after she redecorates Max’s apartment and ruins his collector-grade posters, Max realizes things aren’t working out and he needs to dump her. On the day he’s going to dump her she gets hit by a bus and dies. He feels horrible about it and after a few weeks (months?) pass, he’s ready to move on. Max runs into Olivia at the movies and the sparks fly. But there’s only one thing standing in the way of Olivia and Max living happily ever after.
Evelyn.
Remember the devil bobble-head? Well it brings Evelyn back from the dead and she intends to make Max keep his word about them being together forever.
So what went wrong here? The acting was good by the entire cast. Yelchin is, as always, likable and his character of Max is no exception. Max is a nice guy and his easy-going nature is pushed to the limit. Both Greene and Daddario do great jobs as well. Greene plays the psycho-bitch girlfriend all too well and it looks like she’s having a fun time doing it. Daddario’s Olivia is a quirky, cute girl-next-store character that you can’t help but like. I had no complaints about the acting.
The main problem here is the writing. Writer Alan Trezza barely gives us any tension in the film other than what the title suggests. The entire film comes off like an extended, stretched out TWILIGHT ZONE episode (but not as tense) and there’s too many instances of THREE’S COMPANY-like misunderstandings in it. There’s also elements of the film DEATH BECOMES HER scattered throughout. I understand that Dante and Trezza were going for a horror-comedy here, but the entire film is sugary-sweet with no real conflict. And though I liked the acting, the characters were pretty one-dimensional and none of them offered any kind of tension other than Greene’s Evelyn.
I’m sure this film will find an audience, but I couldn’t connect with BURYING THE EX on any level. This was a huge miss for Mr. Dante, but we’ll always have PIRANHA and GREMLINS!! Skip this one.
My Summary:
Director: Joe Dante
Plot: 1 out of 5 stars
Gore: 1 out of 10 skulls
Zombie Mayhem: 1 out of 5 brains
Reviewed by Scott Shoyer
Stay Bloody!!!
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I have to say, this movie annoyed me on numerous levels. It was a great case of a flick which had EVERYTHING going for it… except a good script. The premise was cute, if not the most original thing in the world. The cast was basically appealing. Yet the script was just God-awful.
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Ya got that right, RichardCharlie … the script was friggin’ awful.
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