My Dead Boyfriend

Slacker that it is, the film never seems willing to put in the necessary work to live up to its potential.

And Graham? Still wearing the short shorts, the shorter skirts, the knee socks and the wider than wide eyes. She and My Dead Boyfriend aren’t exactly bad, they’re just out of place and out of time. But at least she’s not playing another hooker.

Twenty years ago, this comedy might have been a slightly amusing diversion. Now it just exudes an air of sweaty desperation.

My Dead Boyfriend desperately tries to look and sound like a quirky indie hit, but that’s not an achievable goal when you have an unlikable lead character indifferently rendered by a name star.

A mixture of misplaced gallows humor, wildly over-the-top caricatures and a gimmicky use of animation combine to make My Dead Boyfriend one of the year’s more uncomfortable movie-going experiences.

The script from Billy Morrissette — featuring disappearing narration, awful characters and no humor — is largely to blame, but director Anthony Edwards makes uninspired choices throughout, such as inserting random animated characters and allowing Gina Gershon to do a cartoonish French accent in a supporting role.