Dying For A Laugh?

Production Year: 2007 - Comedy - Director: Frank Oz - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over more

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Written by Dean Craig and directed by comedic veteran Frank Oz, DEATH AT A FUNERAL finds a well-to-do family attempting to bury their patriarch amidst a backdrop of secrets,...
more...revelations, rivalries, and illicit pharmaceuticals. While the dutiful Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen) stoically contends with major roadblocks in planning his father's funeral, including being presented with the wrong body, others connected with the family have catastrophes of their own, including the anxious Simon (Alan Tudyk), who is engaged to Martha (Daisy Donovan), and mistakenly takes a hallucinogen to calm his nerves. Lurking in the background is a mysterious stranger (Peter Dinklage) who threatens to send the chaotic proceedings over the brink.
A charming mix of high and lowbrow humour, DEATH AT A FUNERAL is a lively farce that makes the most of its hijinks-filled script and top-notch cast. In addition to excellent performances by MacFadyen (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) and Tudyk (SERENITY), the film features fine turns by Donovan, Andy Nyman, and Jane Asher. Easily Oz's best movie since the giddily silly BOWFINGER, DEATH AT A FUNERAL showcases the director's knack for working with large ensembles, and will appeal to fans of his earlier romp IN AND OUT, as well as to aficionados of biting British comedy.

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Dying For A Laugh?

A review by KarenUK on Death At A Funeral DVD
May 17th, 2008

Author's product rating: Death At A Funeral DVD - rated by KarenUK

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Really funny, great cast, hilarious situations, clever, witty
Disadvantages:	Ewen Bremner

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

My eldest daughter had a few friends round last night, so to try to block out the noise <grin> I decided to watch a film. I looked through the list of Movies on Demand on Virgin Media and chose Death at a Funeral. I had wanted to see it when it was on at the cinema, but hadn't got round to it. I like British films and the cast in this one is very impressive, so it looked my kind of thing.

The plot revolves around a funeral - as you can guess by the title. As the family of the deceased come to see him off, we have a number of elements brought in - the elderly relative in a wheelchair, the feuding brothers, the bloke who's unwittingly tripping on hallucinogenic drugs and the vertically-challenged American man who no-one recognises. Add to this, the usual grief and stress of a funeral and you get - well, a hilarious film, actually!

The characters are each beautifully acted, each one with their own tale to tell. Daniel (Matthew Macfayden) and Robert (Rupert Graves) are the sons of the deceased and there is a lot of resentment between the two. While Daniel has stayed at home, close to his family, Robert has moved to the United States where he is a successful novelist. Daniel is uptight and anxious to get everything right, while his wife Jane (played by real life wife Keeley Hawes) is pre-occupied by organising the deposit on a flat.

Martha (Daisy Donovan) is eager for her partner Simon (Alan Tudyk) to be on his best behaviour, as she knows her father disapproves of him and she wants to tell him she is planning to marry Simon. However, when she gives him a Valium pill at Troy (Kris Marshall)'s house, it turns out not to be Valium at all, but a LSD-based drug.

Simon then trips for the rest of the film and these scenes are some of the best of the film, with excellent wide-eyed acting from Tudyk. He gets some great lines and definitely one of the stars of the piece.

Another of my favourite characters is Howard, played charmingly by Andy Nyman. An essentially loveable bloke, he finds it hard to say no and ends up helping out far more than he really wants to. This puts him in some wonderfully absurd situations, which are brilliantly done, especially as he has a very expressive face.

Veteran actor Peter Vaughan also excels as Uncle Alfie, the wheelchair-bound crotchety old fart with a penchant for colourful language and a pressing need for the toilet! There's a great pay-off towards the end of the film too, which I won't mention in detail so as not to spoil it.

Peter Dinklage is also impressive as the American Peter, the stranger who turns up at the funeral. Again, I won't reveal anything here, as you need to watch it for yourself, but he is a really talented actor and is involved in some of the funniest scenes in the movie.

The day becomes a strange farce, with naked men, a murder plot, a blackmail racket and lots of deception going on, not to mention that stray bottle of Valium which really isn't. The film is really funny, one of the funniest I have seen in a long time and I was laughing out loud at a lot of it.

I have seen it twice already and my daughter is now watching it and enjoying it. I intend to buy it as well (currently £12.97 on Amazon) as it is the sort of movie I want everyone to see.

The film does contain swearing and drug use and there are scenes which people may find in poor taste - but I loved it! I would definitely recommend it. Some excellent performances, great comic sequences and some brilliantly witty dialogue.

Any downsides? Well, not really. Ewen Bremner was annoying as Justin and I kept hoping his scenes would be over quickly, but it didn't detract from the film overall.

I watched this predominantly to see the performances of Kris Marshall (He's so sweet!) and Keeley Hawes (Loved her in Ashes to Ashes), but ended up being blown away by Alan Tudyk and Andy Nyman.

I would definitely recommend this film. I loved it.

Death at a Funeral was released in 2007, it is rated a 15 and lasts 97 minutes.