Enid Is Sleeping

Apparently, it is impossible to buy a copy of this superb dark comedy, which is available for rent from some video stores under the title "Over Her Dead Body." This is a shame, because I am a devotee of dark comedies, and this is my all-time favorite, bar none. The hi-jinks mix with pathos in a most rib-tickling way in this film. Truly, if you don't laugh at loud at least a few times during this movie, you'd better check to see whether you, yourself, may be saddled with a dead body (your own)!

Do you like films with plastic caricatures instead of characters, doing stupid things in order to advance an one-note plot that has worn out its welcome within the first ten minutes, and mumbling to themselves for the duration? If your answer is "Yes", this tiresome and unfunny comedy is right up your alley. If it is "No", SKIP IT! (*)

This is a story about a twisted love triangle and a troublesome corpse - the corpse of the protagonists' sister/wife! Of course, she was not a cooperative person while alive either - in fact, the picture opens with a dysfunctional family scene that will surely make you cringe!

The cast is outstanding - you'll love Jeffry Jones as the troublesome partner of policeman Judge Reinhold (the felonious husband) and you might even feel a bit of empathy for the two-timing sister played by Elizabeth Perkins.

Perhaps the best thing about this movie is its imitation of life, since you just know this is what would happen to you if you tried to get rid of your awful sister - even if only by mistake!

Oh, and be sure to pay attention whenever Brion James shows up in the plot. He really shines in this role! (And if you ever lived in the southwest, you probably met this guy at least once every other weekend!)

Dark comedy with a too-familiar premise: woman catches her husband in bed with her sister and, after a scuffle, thinks she's killed her. She and her cheating husband attempt to dispose the body but come up against many screwball obstacles. Despite good leads Elizabeth Perkins and Judge Reinhold, the picture falls flat. It tries hard, but flails about. The script had possibilities, despite the overall feel of been-here-done-this, and the director can't work up much originality with such a slim budget. Disappointing and lackluster unreleased theatrical film was mentioned in the trades for a few years (always with a different title) and finally made it to video in 1990. *1/2 from ****

This is a very funny black comedy. Elizabeth Perkins is a delight. While the film panders to its audience--car crashes, rotten language, a bit of simulated sex--it is nonetheless original and humorous. It's a solid three out of four stars.