Review: Burying the Ex

Two of my favourite movies growing up were the two Gremlins films. The mix of horror with comedy was well-balanced and I can still remember the Christmas story Phoebe Cates’ character gives involving her father dressing up as Santa Claus. In fact, looking at the movies and T.V. shows Joe Dante has been involved in, I realise just how much of an impact he has had on me – with Explorers, Innerspace and Small Soldiers.

When his latest movie, Burying the Ex, was offered to me, I jumped at the chance to cover it. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t have the same charm and impact of his earlier films.

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Burying the Ex tells the story of Max (Anton Yelchin), a classic horror movie fan who works at a local costume shop. His relationship with his girlfriend Evelyn (Ashley Greene) becomes strained after she moves in with him and becomes overly possessive of him. On the day he decides to break up with her, she is killed in a freak accident.

After grieving her loss for weeks, he meets another horror fan, Olivia (Alexandra Daddario), who seems to be the perfect match for him. Unfortunately, Evelyn returns to fulfil her promise of staying with him forever – though the zombie part was probably not a part of that original vow.

One of the best aspects of Joe Dante’s earlier works is his use and subsequent twisting of genre convention. While Burying the Ex features plenty of genre tropes that are made fun of, the movie’s biggest issue is its reliance on these same tired clichés.

Evelyn is painted as a high-maintenance, environmentally-aware control freak who dominates Max’s life. Olivia is the free-spirited woman who just so happens to share Max’s interests almost exactly and runs an ice cream cafe called I Scream, where all the flavours are inspired by horror iconography. Even Max’s half-brother Travis, who happens to be an over-weight slob with a menial job, is shown to be cooler than his sibling by sleeping with numerous women and even gets to advise Max on his relationship – for some reason. These characters could have been plucked from numerous other movies.

The writing is not particularly inspired either when it comes to the story. The entire plot hangs off of a McGuffin – this Devil Genie happens to be in Evelyn’s hands when she promises to stay with Max forever. It is then never mentioned again – and the plot resolves without any further reference to it either. We never really get any explanation as to why Max’s predicament is relayed to a police officer (played by the legendary Dick Miller) but he cannot tell his new paramour who happens to be a horror fan!

Despite the flaws in the writing, the actors manage to do a decent job of having some fun with their characters. Yelchin gives Max the naïve charm required to keep us on his side. Greene clearly enjoys herself when she gets to play a zombie with possessive tendencies. Daddario probably has the toughest job as she forms the pillar in the plot with the least amount of screen-time but she still manages to be strong and sweet as the instigator of the relationship with Max.

I was disappointed by Burying the Ex. In a genre that features Shaun of the Dead and Death Becomes Her, Joe Dante’s latest fails to live up to its potential. Despite the animated performances of the cast, the poor writing destroyed the brain of this particular movie – as well as jokes as bad as that!

Tags: Alexandra Daddario, Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene, Burying The Ex, Joe Dante