“Marry My Dead Body” is a daft and somewhat slow-footed Taiwanse action comedy about a homophobic cop who learns tolerance by marrying a ghost, who then helps him Crack the Big Case.

It’s a tad obvious, a bit dated, as it’s late to the “lose your homophobia” story trope. But it almost gets by thanks to some laugh-out-loud bits and a sweet streak that runs throughout.

Wu Ming-han (Greg Han Su) is a gruff, macho oaf whom we meet as he’s busting a guy in a gym locker room, going off on “YOU people,” as his manhandles a naked and apparently gay drug suspect.

Ming-han isn’t shy about dropping the f-slur. That does him no good in his precinct, and gets him nowhere with the cute, no-nonsense policewoman (Gingle Wang) he crushes on.

But it’s his clumsiness on the job — a reckless car chase that ends with her getting the bust and him collecting evidence tossed out of the suspect’s vehicle — that really upends his life. He picks up drug packets and “a red envelope.”

I mean, how can you be Chinese and not be wary of the of a ghost marriage proposal? He’s picked up the particulars of a recently-deceased gay man, Mao Mao. And as he does, a flock of old woman pounce on him, all smiles, and tell him what he’s done.

He’s married. To a guy.

“You should be more open minded,” they gush (dubbed, or in Guoyu/Mandarin with English subtitles). There’s no getting out of it, lest you want “a life of misfortune.” Because a rejected ghost marriage “will bite you on the ass.”

He doesn’t believe it until he’s the victim of several accidents, and trouble at work.

That’s when he starts seeing ghosts, one ghost in particular. That would be slightly-flamboyant Mao Mao (Po-Hung Lin). Ming-han must “fulfill (his) dying wish so that (he) can be reincarnated.”

Simple enough. He’s here. He’s chatty. But Mao Mao’s fickle, with a LOT of “dying wishes.”

“Stop global warming” is the first. Awww. Sweet.

Dying wish 2? Adopt, or adopt-out, Mao Mao’s Jack Russell terrier.

Meeting with the dead man’s dad, getting hold of Mao Mao’s phone to remove explicit photos, visiting his lover, it’s a LONG list.

As none of these seem to move the “reincarnation” needle, they and we start to figure out that maybe finding the driver who hit-and-ran-and-killed Mao Mao will give him peace.

A cop, demoted from a team trying to bust a big drug dealer (Chen-Nan Tsai) is now out hunting for clues that other “scumbag cops” Mao Mao’s dad said couldn’t be bothered to track down.

Director and co-writer Wei-Hung Lin’s picture meanders a bit on its way towards a derivative and pre-ordained conclusion and leaves a loose-end or two that nobody gets around to tidying up.

But it’s got all this homophobic-puncturing humor in it, about “bottoms” and the make-over necessary to “pass” in a gay nightclub and “dumb straight guy” references.

The ghost gets all zombie-scary when he demands something, a sort of threat. And of course the ghost can “possess” nearby people, including Ming-han, sent prancing down the street nude, at one moment, just to to make a point.

There are laughs here, and sweet twists in the relationship with the dead man’s intolerant father. The leads pull off the “meet cute” and “quarrel cute” routines with touch and skill.

But the pacing is leaden. There’s a lot of dead screen time between the lone car chase and an action-packed climax. I’d say there’s enough funny and exciting material for an 80-85 minute action comedy with a bit of bounce to it.

“Marry My Dead Body” is yet another promising picture edited to Netflix standards — not for pace, but to pad the time spent watching — quantity over quick quality, every time.

And this is the movie Taiwan submitted as Best International Feature contender at the Oscars?

Rating: TV-MA, violence, nudity, gay slurs and innuendo

Cast: Greg Han Su, Po-Hung Lin, Gingle Wang and Chen-Nan Tsai

Credits: Directed by Wei-Hao Cheng, scripted by Wei-Hao Cheng, Lai Chih-liang and Sharon Wu. A Netflix release.

Running time: 2:07