Attempting 2 movies at once

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2006)

Oh yes, despite my criticism of said movie, I rather enjoyed it... and I will say an 8 is a high ranking for a snooty individual such as myself (see my other rants about Aliens, Titanic, and I think I did one about gladiator, but that's neither here nor there.) I am a sappy horror struck individual who loves the zombie related (I think I orgasmed the first time I played resident evil), and this movie gave me my zombie fix, oh yes! Delightful! And yes, it was indeed a romantic comedy. But somewhere along the line, it stopped being a comedy at all... Was it when he had to kill his mother? Or when they were trapped in the basement of the pub, and Ed was begging for his death? I couldn't tell you. But somehow, somewhen, it slid out of the comedy genre and into the realm of drama. I was distraught! Where was the lighthearted witty banter? The comic smashing of records against a zombie head? By the by, ruining a perfectly good Dire Straits record?!!! But I digress. This was real acting! I felt BAD. I was SAD for Shaun, I felt despair and hopelessness! These are not feelings a romantic comedy brings to me! Somewhere along the line, the movie switched from being a spoof/rom-com into a serious piece of film-making. Don't get me wrong. The actors had chops. Oh man did they have chops! The scene where Shaun turns the gun on his mother? I almost cried, I empathized with him so. But I don't know that something that heavy has a place in romantic comedy, or even romantic zombedy. So I must sigh and rate this fine piece of work an 8 instead of a 10, and declare it a $7 movie. A movie I would purchase were I to see it for $6.99 or so, but no more. Worth seeing, mayhaps even worth buying, if only to have amidst your collection, but not a true and sparkling gem.