Death at a Funeral (B or 3/4 stars)
'Death at a Funeral' is a black comedy directed by Frank Oz. Chaos breaks out at a dignified countryside funeral when (Peter Dinklage) tries to expose a dark secret regarding the recently departed. If your taste is in this vein of British farce, you're bound to laugh heartily. The rousing climax is one I won't soon forget.
A saddened Daniel (Matthew Macfayden, of 2005's Pride & Prejudice) looks to greet his many family & friends who have come from far & wide. We're introduced to many of them as they approach the countryside cottage (funeral site) and learn that each & every character comes to this funeral with their own heavy hearts ... and their own personal problems. Dan loves his brother, Robert (Rupert Graves), but is jealous of his apartment in America, his freedom, his fame, & his talent as a novelist. Dan also tries to ignore his pesky wife (Keeley Hawes) as she digs at him to buy a 'flat' of their own. Dan's cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan) and her nervous fiancee, Simon (a hysterical Alan Tudyk), are weary to make a good impression on Martha's stick-in-the-mud father.
But their plan to impress goes right out the window when Simon accidentally ingests what he 'thinks' is valium, but is actually a strong hallucinogenic. With no control over his actions, delirium sets in, which makes for a completely embarrassing outing in front of his potential in-laws ... at no less than a somber funeral. Meanwhile, a mysterious dwarf shows up to the funeral and threatens (with blackmail) to unveil a secret which could rock the foundation of this apparently dysfunctional family. Responsibility to hide the damaging truth from family & friends falls upon Dan's already fragile shoulders as he and Robert try to figure out a way to keep the ceremony going and prevent another death at the funeral!
But it's hard to keep the peace when Simon is running around naked on the roof, Uncle Alfie's (Peter Vaughn) bowels are exploding everywhere, the dwarf is making a ruckus, Troy (Kris Marshall) is frantically hoping to find his missing bottle of LSD, Justin (Ewen Bremner) is trying to woo Martha (while she tries to prevent her fiancee from committing suicide off of the roof), and Howard (Andy Nyman) is peskily bothering the priest, the widow, and the widow's brother-in-law with his unimportant skin rash. Sounds like a nightmare? Well it is. And while it tries too hard, at times, I welcomed 'Death at a Funeral' with open arms.
This movie is sophisticatedly silly from the get-go and sustains that 'til the end (with bouts of humdrum plot exposition spread throughout). You could see every funny moment coming from a mile away. And yet, because I knew they'd wind up being hysterical anyway, I didn't mind the lack of surprise. The characters are eccentrically out-of-control. Because of this, they rode a thin line of being really funny, or painfully 'not'. But the line was thick enough to maintain the former. Nudity, drug use, religious themes, bathroom humor, postmortem slapstick, & heavy verbal banter make up most of the comedy. The film has its shortcomings (uneven exposition, dead-air moments, overly sentimental conclusion). Nothing is truly original here ... it just made me feel good. And that's all I can ask for.
A saddened Daniel (Matthew Macfayden, of 2005's Pride & Prejudice) looks to greet his many family & friends who have come from far & wide. We're introduced to many of them as they approach the countryside cottage (funeral site) and learn that each & every character comes to this funeral with their own heavy hearts ... and their own personal problems. Dan loves his brother, Robert (Rupert Graves), but is jealous of his apartment in America, his freedom, his fame, & his talent as a novelist. Dan also tries to ignore his pesky wife (Keeley Hawes) as she digs at him to buy a 'flat' of their own. Dan's cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan) and her nervous fiancee, Simon (a hysterical Alan Tudyk), are weary to make a good impression on Martha's stick-in-the-mud father.
But their plan to impress goes right out the window when Simon accidentally ingests what he 'thinks' is valium, but is actually a strong hallucinogenic. With no control over his actions, delirium sets in, which makes for a completely embarrassing outing in front of his potential in-laws ... at no less than a somber funeral. Meanwhile, a mysterious dwarf shows up to the funeral and threatens (with blackmail) to unveil a secret which could rock the foundation of this apparently dysfunctional family. Responsibility to hide the damaging truth from family & friends falls upon Dan's already fragile shoulders as he and Robert try to figure out a way to keep the ceremony going and prevent another death at the funeral!
But it's hard to keep the peace when Simon is running around naked on the roof, Uncle Alfie's (Peter Vaughn) bowels are exploding everywhere, the dwarf is making a ruckus, Troy (Kris Marshall) is frantically hoping to find his missing bottle of LSD, Justin (Ewen Bremner) is trying to woo Martha (while she tries to prevent her fiancee from committing suicide off of the roof), and Howard (Andy Nyman) is peskily bothering the priest, the widow, and the widow's brother-in-law with his unimportant skin rash. Sounds like a nightmare? Well it is. And while it tries too hard, at times, I welcomed 'Death at a Funeral' with open arms.
This movie is sophisticatedly silly from the get-go and sustains that 'til the end (with bouts of humdrum plot exposition spread throughout). You could see every funny moment coming from a mile away. And yet, because I knew they'd wind up being hysterical anyway, I didn't mind the lack of surprise. The characters are eccentrically out-of-control. Because of this, they rode a thin line of being really funny, or painfully 'not'. But the line was thick enough to maintain the former. Nudity, drug use, religious themes, bathroom humor, postmortem slapstick, & heavy verbal banter make up most of the comedy. The film has its shortcomings (uneven exposition, dead-air moments, overly sentimental conclusion). Nothing is truly original here ... it just made me feel good. And that's all I can ask for.