Review of Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2009) by Joshua B — 07 Jun 2012

Fans of too-soon canceled TV shows often pine for more, whether it be through an unlikely uncancellation (Family Guy), a jump to another network (Southland), or a feature film project (Firefly). So for fans of Showtime's black comedy, Dead Like Me, the prospect of a straight to DVD film version could only be a good thing.

Until it wasn't.

Life After Death more or less bastardises the show's beloved characters. The writing in this movie is sloppy, without the clever dry wit or character nuance that made the show so good. Then there is the physical character changes. Laura Harris played Daisy with a layered vulnerability. Here, replacement actress Sarah Wynter plays her as someone who has never seen the show. And the absence Mandy Patinkin as Rube, who was really the backbone of the group, could not be more sorely felt in this soulless continuation.

There are some nice moments between the lead protagonist, George (Ellen Muth), and her now teenaged sister, Reggie (Britt McKillip) that genuinely feel like a resolution of some of the shows more poignant ponderings on death. But those moments fail to make engaging a film that is mostly focused on a bizarre plot involving Henry Ian Cusick as the crew's new boss.

If this soulless sequel was all that we were going to get from this great show, Dead Like Me should have stayed in the ground.