Review of Burying the Ex (2014) by Stephen S — 22 Sep 2015

Burying the Ex is a horror-comedy film. It revolves around Max (Anton Yelchin) a sales clerk at a horror themed novelty shop. Max is going through a rough patch with his girlfriend Evelyn (Ashley Greene). He decides to break up with her but before he can she is hit by a bus and dies. However she accidentally invoked a demonic ritual that would cause her and Max to be together forever and rises from the dead to return to Max, just as he is moving on with his life.

Things I Liked:

Ashley Greene. Arguably the best part of the Twilight franchise, Greene is no stranger to playing monsters. Her characterization is a bit campy but it works for the movie, especially after she comes back from the dead. She has a great moments of sorrow, moments of anger, moments of comedy, and she makes the movie much more watchable with her presence.

Anton Yelchin. Yelchin gives a hell of a performance as Max. He has been putting in solid performances and each one is different from the last. This is no exception. Anton's Max is both the protagonist and the audience commentary talking about how absurd the themes of this movie are. I feel like Yelchin is one actor who is often overlooked for appearing in movies below his caliber and deserves better.

Alexandea Daddario. Daddario plays Olivia, the girl of Max's interests after Evelyn is "dead". Daddario probably has the most realistic performance in this movie having some genuine moments where you actually feel like you are in a movie that is a more than just a campy horror-comedy. She has been showing a great performance ability lately and doesn't let the content of the film hold her back from doing her job well.

Things I Didn't Like:

The Dialogue. The dialogue in this movie is awful. It's so overly riddled with the characters talking about wanting to have sex that is seems like someone wrote a porn and then decided to cut all the sex scenes down to a PG-13 style movie and try to make it a feature. The script is bad and it tears down what could have been a good idea.

The Story. The movie has a number of themes and moments that seem to get unresolved by the third act to just be an almost slapstick fight. It's bad and the moments don't make sense as a cohesive film. Character motivations move at weird paces and the overall product is brought down by the incoherence of the script and the chaos of the story.

Overall. Overall the movie has some really fun moments and the cast is actually pretty good given the foundation of the script is terrible. The story and dialogue are a terror. And they really make this one harder to watch than it should be. The movie is a fun idea with a good cast delivering dialogue out of an almost stereotypical porn and running through a story that gets beyond absurd at times. Ultimately the movies has some fun moments though, largely brought on by the talented performances by the cast.