Movie Review: My *Dead* Boyfriend

My Dead Boyfriend (2016) Starring Heather Graham, Scott Michael Foster, Katherine Moennig, feat. John Corbett, Gina Gershom, and more. This quirky film is high melodrama and full of colorful, over the top humor. It is also set in one of my most favorite places, New York City, in 1999. So, it had two things that drew me in. It also has Heather Graham as the lead, who is always charming and endearing. The additional cast members, especially John Corbett and Gina Gershom, also add their unique style and humor to it, so it made for an interesting watch. The plot is that Mary Mcrawley is a temp worker living with a self described “temporary” boyfriend in New York City on the verge of the Y2K crisis. The film starts out with her losing her temp job. A heavy metal version of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” theme song plays as she tosses her high heel boots up in the air, over her head---in homage to the TV show--- but with a darker meaning because the shoes are tied together with shoelaces and wrap around the wires of a telephone pole. This signifies the ‘death’ of her office career. Along with this cynical and melodramatic moment, the credits are playing and occasionally there are animated people that walk by or sit or stand next to Mary as she experiences life in the city. At one point, a man insults her with what he thinks is a compliment, and a cartoon snake wraps around his neck as if to choke him. The man is unharmed, but the audience sees it as her intentions played out through the animated personalities. When Mary gets home to her tiny apartment, she talks to her boyfriend about the sh*tty day she’s been having, as he lays in a chair staring at the TV. She circles the room, talking for a full three minutes before realizing he is dead. Her unemployed, uninteresting boyfriend Primo Schultz is dead….and she barely noticed. When the police come, they make their inquiries, but it seems like the cops also don’t really care what happened to him. One cop flirts with Mary while the other watches TV. Only the Medical Examiner seems to be doing his job. This is a funny scene, due to the M.E.’s reactions. Through the next few days and meeting many of the other people in Primo’s life, Mary discovers that he was probably one of the most interesting men in New York City. Yet, when he was with her he was a total dud. She meets Helene (Gina Gershom), the fabulous French art gallery owner who was in love with him when he was young, and finds out Primo was a “genius” artist. Mary had no idea. She meets Harold, The Dog Walker (Scott Michael Foster) who blurts out that Primo was seeing someone--- not Mary---someone else. She crosses paths with strippers, a female band, and a transgender singer who had relations with Primo. Mary was surprised by his goings on because he never seemed to have a job or go anywhere or do anything. Mary meets Primo’s mother and his personality makes a whole lot more sense. Mary also has a cray-cray mother and family life too, that she gets figured out towards the end. As all of the puzzle pieces of Primo’s life fit together, Mary’s life starts to fall apart. She discovers most of the people she knew/know have been keeping secrets from her. She begins to tailspin, but in the end she discovers who and what matters to her. No more “temp” anything for her, as Primo’s crazy life helps her find her own. It was a good film, very silly, very funny with dark humor. There was a continuity issue because at one point Mary (Heather Graham) brings Primo’s urn into a bar to get drunk, but then doesn’t leave with the urn. Then, in a later scene, she is holding it again. That aggravated me. Also, the opening credits were hard to read. They were done in a graffiti style, which was cool, but because Mary was walking on a busy street, I couldn’t read any of the titles. They should have put a black or white background around the titles. I really enjoyed the animation. That added an artsy, downtown NYC flair to the film. Also, I liked John Corbett’s reactions to everything--- because he doesn't speak, but has to emote using his expressions. Everything with Primo in it is done in either flashback or dream sequence which end up being goofy and over the top. Scott Michael Foster is very charming and easy on the eyes, and Gina Gershom’s French lady is great. I recommend it, but you really have to be into this type of humor.