Death at a Funeral - Review

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Length: 90 min

Rated: R

Distributor: MGM

Release Date: 2007-08-17

Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Alan Tudyk, Daisy Donovan, Kris Marshall, Andy Nyman, Jane Asher, Keeley Hawes, Peter Vaughan, Ewen Bremner, Peter Dinklage, Thomas Wheatley, Peter Egan

Directed by Frank Oz

Produced by Sidney Kimmel, Laurence Malkin, Diana Phillips, Share Stallings

Written by Dean Craig

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Reviewed by Josh Tyler : 2007-06-13 13:38:16

The latest from director and beloved Mupeteer Frank Oz, Death at a Funeral is a painfully typical farce, full of wild coincidences and cliché plot devices; Luckily, it’s put together with such energy and aplomb that even though you may have seen some of it before it’s still surprisingly funny.

It stars a mostly British ensemble cast of unfamiliar names with familiar faces. If you’re not a hardcore Serenity fan then you probably won’t know who Alan Tudyk is, but when you see him standing bare-bottomed on a rooftop tripping on acid you’ll instantly think, “oh hey it’s that guy!”

As the title suggests, the film takes place mostly at a funeral, beginning with the arrival of family and friends and ending when the whole horrid, doomed to be botched affair is finished. Things go pretty badly from the start, with each family member dragging his or her own baggage to the thing, some spoiling for a fight. It goes from bad to worse when the sons of the deceased, Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen) and Robert (Rupert Graves), discover that their dead father has a dark secret which may or may not involve a midget (Peter Dinklage). Things fall completely to pieces when said small-statured sleazeball shows up at the funeral to blackmail them into keeping his mouth shut.

Around this central problem Dean Craig’s script introduces us to a motley assortment of characters who’ve shown up to pay their respects. If you have a family, then you may find some of your more annoying relatives represented quite accurately in them. In other instances, the movie relies rather heavily on wacky co-incidences like repeatedly mistaken hallucinogenic substances to amp up the comedy. Tricky to pull off without reeking of artifice, but Death at a Funeral is less concerned with being realistic than it is with getting that extra laugh. Like I said at the outset, this is a farce. Unbelievable and extreme coincidences are par for the course. Look it up.

Really, Oz lucked out on this one. His recent work as a director has been somewhat shaky. He put himself on the map as more than just a Muppet director by rattling off Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and What About Bob? in the late 80s and early 90s, but since hasn’t ever really found his way back to that kind of greatness. He brushes back up against it here in large part because his cast is just that flat out good. They’re a brilliant bunch of character actors completely let loose on the material, rattling off quips and grimacing for the camera in all the right places. The result is at times, gut-busting.

Death at a Funeral is a modest little film with modest ambitions. Oz and his cast showed up on set with one thought in mind: Get a laugh. That they do, to gasping effect.

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Nathan
June 23, 2008 at 14:20

A great film with lots of laughs and a stellar cast of no-name actors Death at a Funeral is a extremely funny film and strongly disagree with Geoff he must have no sense of humour, i was in fits the whole way through a good and fair review would definitly watch again!

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Geoff
December 24, 2007 at 11:58

This was the unfunniest film I have seen for ages. The jokes were so predictable and cliched that we didn't laugh once and walked out after the scene where he gets diarrhoea on his hands and face.

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Suzie
November 5, 2007 at 16:23

Screw the movie. I just wanna read more about JoshT bitching about Steve...

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JoshT
October 28, 2007 at 01:50

Steve...

Did you even READ my review before bitching about it? "our reviewer here is a bit too stuffy to enjoy a movie like this"?? Steve, I gave the movie a GREAT review and reccomended it.

Newsflash: This idiot critic liked the movie just as much as you did, and I actually watched the movie before I commented on it, unlike you and this review.

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steve
October 28, 2007 at 01:49

Our reviewer here is a bit too stuffy to enjoy a movie like this it seems. Too often we see movies that are called "comedies" but are full of silly half jokes that arent funny and you go away dejected while the critics seem pleased that there is something rather intelligent about the whole thing.

This is about the funniest movie ever. I laughed from beginning to end and so did most in the audience. It was simply hillarious. If you want to see a proper comedy that will make you laugh, this is it.

Dont worry about what the idiot critics think. Go and watch, you will come out having laughed more than you have in a while.

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danielle
June 1, 2007 at 16:44

The movie sounds fabulous and I cantt wait to pick it up on the 29th.

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Death at a Funeral - Review

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