The Horror Show
Burying the Ex
by Joe Dante
I've always felt that Joe Dante hasn't been given enough credit. Most people on the street wouldn't recognize his name even though he's directed multiple classics such as Gremlins, The Burbs and The Howling. He has a skilled hand at connecting comedy with horror and making films that are both respected by the horror community and still have an odd family friendly vibe about them, despite not really being that way at all. His latest venture Burying the Ex tackles this time-tested formula once again with expected fun results.
Burying the Ex follows our hero Max (Anton Yelchin), a nice, normal enough guy with a bit of a problem. That problem is in the form of an overwhelmingly terrible girlfriend named Evelyn (Ashley Greene). Easy-on-the-eyes Evelyn manages to overpower that fact with her horrendous personality. She is the definition of overbearing and clingy, not to mention the epitome of opinionated. She's a vegan, so Max has to be a vegan too, and God help him if he expresses his own opinions. She goes off on any girl that so much as smiles at Max and is on such a high-horse about the environment that I felt like spraying as many cans of hairspray directly into mother nature's face as I could find just to spite her every time she spoke.
Max catches the attention of Olivia (Alexandra Daddario), a sweet, absolutely gorgeous girl who has the same interests as him. To sweeten the situation, she isn't a raving lunatic like his current girlfriend. Luckily for the universe, Evelyn kicks the bucket. I won't elaborate on the circumstance so you can experience this aspect unexpectedly, but it's satisfying, and the universe feels less annoying as she's lowered into the ground. He starts spending time with the awesome new girl and things seem to be coming up all Max. That is until Evelyn crawls from the grave and shows up back at the apartment, ready to spend her undead years with him.
I don't wanna go too much farther into it, as the setup takes up much of the running time and I would be going into the climax. Overall, though, I was quite happy with Joe Dante's work and had plenty of fun watching it. Anton Yelchin does a great job with the role, quickly endearing the viewer and hitting the notes well. Even with how horrid Evelyn is, we feel his sorrow and guilt when she dies. Later in the movie something of note sort of gets glossed over to keep the film going, but his few lines and looks in regards to this aspect (which I won't ruin) brings the emotion home as much as possible.
The other actors all do a great job with their roles too. Max's brother Travis (Oliver Cooper) proves to be the least helpful person in the world, along with providing most of the comic relief. Even with Evelyn's awfulness, Ashley Greene does a great job conveying her own inner turmoil that almost leaves you feeling sorry for her. It only takes one or two more actions to make you go back to hatred, but the range is impressive. Alexandra Daddario plays a completely lovable character who is too good to be real, but that's what's great about movies.
No film can completely live up to the zombie-fun goodness of my childhood favorite My Boyfriend's Back, but Burying the Ex is at least in the same vein, only from the point of view of the living instead of the undead. It also doesn't deal so much with the need to eat the living. Don't worry, that concept is in there, but it's more about Eveylyn's desire to make Max into what she is so they can be together. That and Max's complete desire to avoid that outcome. While it's not a movie that I was blown away by or see myself rushing to re-wtach, Joe Dante displays his deft hand at filmmaking and makes a movie that is easy to watch and moves along nicely.
There is some blood and gross-out moments sprinkled here and there but this is by no means an extreme film. It's a pretty light affair, which is just fine given what type of film it is and in the end, it all feels like a worthwhile effort. While this is not a film that I will be loudly recommending from the rooftops, it is absolutely one that I will politely suggest you check out if any of the themes are something you are into.
All in all, I enjoyed Burying the Ex and look forward to seeing what Dante does next. Although, to be fair, that's an ongoing situation.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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