Death At A Funeral Sterben Fr Anfnger NONUSA FORMAT PAL Reg2 Import Netherlands

Posted In: Death At A Funeral

Christel Dones says...

The great thing about DEATH AT A FUNERAL is that there really is something for everyone. From brief bathroom humor to dark jokes, it's all there, laid out by UK-born director Frank Oz.



The title itself is a bit misleading, in that you would think it to be more horror-ish or dramatic. The words "Death" and "Funeral" don't normally make you skip to the theater thinking "Oh boy! Let's go watch this funny movie!" For that, I would fault only the production person who stamped the name on it. But that would be my only one; one which has nothing to do with the rest of this riotously funny film.



Like a snake creeping upon its prey, Death at a Funeral also slowly makes its way along, never lurching or jumping ahead of itself, building the comedic moments one upon the other. Starting out (as all the trailers have shown) with Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) standing in his livingroom, watching his father's coffin being delivered in preparation for a British homestyle service. But once the coffin is open, Daniel states, "That's not my father." The funeral home quickly whisks away the casket and returns with the right one. This gradual sinking in of dark comedy holds the film together exceptionally well.



We're then introduced to the rest of the cast...



Jane (Keeley Hawes, Tristram Shandy - A Cock and Bull Story), Daniel's wife who's pressuring him to buy a flat in the city and leave his now widowed mother with his successful brother in New York.



Simon (Alan Tudyk, Serenity), who is arriving at the funeral with his soon-to-be wife and is stressed about meeting (again) his future father-in-law, so is accidentally given a pill thought to be valium but, in reality, turns out to be a powerful hallucinogenic. This sends Simon on a running joke throughout the film, including periods of catatonia, color fascinations, and rooftop nudity.



Uncle Alfie (Peter Vaughan, KISS KISS BANG BANG), a crotchety old fart who's brought to the funeral in a wheelchair only to find himself with explosively needy bowels and the witness to a possible murder.



Peter (Peter Dinklage), a midget-of-a-man with big life aspirations who comes to the funeral not only to mourn the death of a close "friend," but to also get what "he deserves" from the family.



There are other perpetrators in the film, too, but these are the main ones who's paths cross just about everyone else's.



The film's short 90 minute run time is excellent in that none of the funnies are overdone. They have their moment and are either tossed aside or folded over into the film's grand finale. The number one folding in of jokes has to be the faux-valium pill bottle that gets lost and re-lost only to spring up at the most hilarious moments.



This is a laugh-a-minute film that has perfect comedic timing and crucial usage of British pompous humor, along with dark moments that will make watchers cringe and giggle at the same time.

Posted on June 12, 2011

Ivana Sanquenetti says...

When I went into this movie, I knew nothing about it. I believe that this is the best way to see this particular movie. I sometimes prefer not to know, but I legitimately hadn't heard of this movie before it came out. I saw it under a recommendation of, "Hey, we saw this movie last night and it was very funny." That was all it took.



There were very few recognizable faces, and only one actor whose name I knew. The story was ridiculous and heart-warming all wrapped up together. For a movie that featured neither the comedic styling of Mel Brooks nor many (if any) "inappropriate" jokes, I am not sure I have ever laughed that hard at a movie. Consider, if you will, that Death at a Funeral is like Meet the Parents (Widescreen Special Edition), but funnier...and intelligent.



If you need/want to know what the movie was about, I won't deprive you. But if you will head my recommendation, stop reading here and enjoy the movie.



The movie:

A son attempts what would be a routine funeral for his father, but for a few unforeseen factors. This seemingly prim and proper British family may just be as flawed and...well, normal as any other family. An unfamiliar face in the crowd tries to blackmail the family, a promising young man who is trying to marry into the family accidentally takes enough hallucinogenic drugs to kill a small animal, and everyone keeps asking why the son instead of his author-for-a-brother will provide the eulogy. Family and friends come together to mourn and pay their respects to a man that they all thought they knew. What happens could never have been expected.

Posted on June 12, 2011

Lashay Shacklett says...

Death at a Funeral is quintessential British humor. There are a lot of characters, but each is so different from the others that there is no confusion about identity. The basic premise is a staid, English manor house funeral with the requisite widow, two slightly estranged brothers, and a bevy of friends and family coming to pay their last respects to the recently deceased (and highly respectable)lord of the manor. You begin to see the film's evolution from the moment the funeral home delivers the wrong casket to the manor house! My husband and I both enjoyed this movie very much. There is something here for most ages although it is not suitable for children under 13 and some of the humor might be subtle enough to escape some older teens as well. There is some language and a bit of nudity but nothing highly offensive. Just very funny.Death at a Funeral

Posted on June 13, 2011

Stacie Olmeda says...

Finally! I saw this movie in the theatres on a whim and have been dying to see it again.Absolutely the funniest movie I have seen in years.Now THIS is a comedy.

Posted on June 14, 2011

Vida Auble says...

****NO SPOILERS HERE****



This film is best enjoyed if you know nothing about the plot, and ergo I shall reveal nothing.



I love the comedies of director Frank Oz, from Bowfinger to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.



But after the dreadful remake of The Stepford Wives, I didn't have high hopes for "Death at a Funeral."



But from about the second line in the movie, it is BURST out loud funny. And while it's hard to believe the momentum can be maintained, especially given the morbid theme, the plot surprises continue and the laughs build until the riotous crescendo. Comedies are my favorite genre, and it's difficult to remember a movie funnier than this.



Director Oz apparently benefited by getting out of Hollywood, and working with a no-name cast in the UK, and this is his by far his funniest and best work.



Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Posted on June 15, 2011

Matilda Hillyer says...

"Death at a Funeral", the new film from director Frank Oz ("In and Out", Dirty Rotten Scoundrels") is a pretty good tribute to the British comedies we used to see with more consistency. A droll, black sense of humor, characters who are as wacky as others are steadfast and the use of a setting we are all familiar with used in an unfamiliar way all help to give this film a whacked out sensibility. But it isn't above moments of crass, bathroom humor and these bring it down.



Daniel (Matthew McFadyen, TV's "MI:5", "Pride & Prejudice") and his wife, Jane (Keely Hawes, TV's "MI:5") are living at home with his father and mother when his father dies. They await the arrival of the rest of the family for the funeral. Soon, the house is filled and they have to deal with all of the craziness in everyone's life. Daniel's brother, John (Rupert Graves), a published writer, flies in from New York, first class, and claims he doesn't have any money to help out with the funeral costs. Martha (Daisy Donovan), Daniel's cousin, and her fianc

Posted on June 15, 2011

Mazie Caccia says...

Like so many others this viewer avoided the theatrical release and deferred to the DVD release of DEATH AT A FUNERAL, thinking that a comic take on a potentially morbid subject might not be very entertaining.Couldn't have been more wrong!This is the kind of humor the Brits do so well - intelligent, expertly delivered dialog and action that can make even the most unlikely situations hilarious.Writer Dean Craig and Director Frank Oz have created a farce and have put this tongue in cheek situation in the hands of some the best of the British actors.The result is a spinning top that only gradually allows the viewer to breathe from laughing during the clever final credits.



The father of a very dysfunctional family has died and son Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen) and his wife Jane (Keeley Hawes) have agreed to host the funeral. After the mortuary first delivers the wrong corpse the tone is set for all the wrong things to happen.The arriving family is a bizarre clan of characters - a novelist living beyond his means in New York (Rupert Graves), a man who unwittingly mistakes an hallucinogen for Valium and ends up on a trip that entertains all, a 'drug distributor', a crotchety old man with toilet problems, and the usual stuffy and goofy associates that so often populate the British comedies. And when it seems as though little else could support sanity, up pops a figure form the US (Peter Dinklage) with a secret about the deceased and proceeds to cause a situation that becomes the focal point of this zany funeral.



Saying too much about each of the characters diminishes the surprises that abound. Were it not for the fact that each of the actors in the film is 'top drawer' this little movie could have become mawkish or tasteless, but this cast and director have produced one of the most refreshingly funny films of the past year.Grady Harp, February 08

Posted on June 15, 2011

Nereida Rattay says...

"With a circus parade of mourning Brits and enough appalling circumstances to set proper Englishness back to the Dark Ages, "Death at a Funeral" pits decorum against sex, drugs and dysfunction. The winners? Auds who know you laugh hardest when you're not supposed to, and who appreciate the humorous qualities of embarrassment, blackmail and the twitting of the upper classes." John Anderson



This is decidedly a British humour film. The distance between pretension and crazy humour is not too far apart.The upper crust with their stiff upper lips seem to crack a bit. The patriarch of the house has gone and died. His British gentry friends and his family gather to say good-bye. The stoic older son who with his wife have been living in the family stead, is set to bring off this funeral with dignity. The anxiety he feels is palpable and then his younger brother, the famed novelist from the US arrives and upsets his world again. Into the mix arrives his cousin Martha with her fiancee who has unknowingly ingested a hallucinogen and goes mildly mad. The old debilitated uncle arrives via his wheel chair with two friends one gay and one well, just nerdy. And, one of the little people arrives whom it appears has a secret to sell. Needless to say the funeral goes berserk- a naked wild man on the roof, the little person bound and gagged, the minister who must leave urgently and the family dispositions come undone.It is all serious to the family and guests but to those of us looking on it is a hilarious romp- I found myself laughing out loud through much of the film.



The performances were superb. The staid son, Daniel is played by Matthew Macfadyen with perfection. His wife, Keeley Hawes, who wants a promise that they will put a down payment on the promised flat, plays her role with subtlety. The bereaved mother and wife, Jane Asher, wants no one to upstage her. Rupert Graves, the novelist is a supercilious brat. Martha, Daisy Donovan, steals the movie with her ability to be seriously funny while trying to convince her fiancee, Simon, Alan Tudyk to put his clothes on. Martha's father, Victor played by Peter Egan, is the epitome of the English gentry, a snob.



As a farce this often goes over the top, but we forgive the writer and director because we have tears rolling down our cheeks from laughter.



Highly Recommended. prisrob 03-29-08



Almost Strangers



Where Angels Fear to Tread

Posted on June 16, 2011

Tamie Duffey says...

My husband brought this DVD home from the video store this weekend.He sometimes brings home odd things and certainly the title and cover of this DVD were no exception.I took one look at it, turned up my nose and said "Uggh, I have no interest in seeing this.What in the world caused you to pick it out?"He said, "Oh, it's some British movie and it's supposed to be funny." I gave him a good eyeroll.



I actually missed the first 15 minutes of the movie because I wasn't interested in watching it at all, much less being there from the beginning.Within a minute of sitting down with him though I was laughing hysterically.So hysterically in fact, that our daughter came in from the next room where she was sitting with headphones on, music blaring in her ears, because she could hear us screaming with laughter.When she came in to the room, my husband and I were balled up in fits of tearful laughter and couldn't even talk to her.



When the movie was over, all I could say was "Oh - my - gosh!That was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life.I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe and thought I was going to throw up.Then I couldn't sleep because I kept laughing.



Of course, it's not a movie you can talk about at the water cooler because people just won't understand why playing with toilet paper, talking to a deceased man's dwarf lover, or walking on a roof naked are funny.You just have to see it to understand.

Posted on June 18, 2011

Jacquelin Bozzell says...

Director Frank Oz [aka Oznowicz] was actually born in England, and he was raised in America. A very talented actor, with 104 film appearances on his resume -he also specialized in "voice work". He and Jim Henson created the whole MUPPETS phenomenon. He created multiple characters, the most famous of which were Kermit and Miss Piggy. He is equally well known for being the voice of Yoda for the George Lucas STAR WARS series. As a director he has made 14 films, varying from THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982), through the classic fun of WHAT ABOUT BOB? (1991). All the way across the spectrum to the crime thriller, THE SCORE (2001), with Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Marlon Brando. DEATH AT A FUNERAL (2007) represents his triumphant return to comedy; and what a dark and delicious foray it is.



A farce of the first order, this film is about a normally dysfunctional family who are forced to confront each other at a patriarch's funeral. The amazing script was written by Dean Craig. He is a young writer/director with only four films to his credit. In 2003 he gave us DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS. His script for FUNERAL was filled with wafts, even wads of wit, had terrific internal timing, a solid structure and plot, with a delectable and irreverent sense of humor. It is a film so completely farcical that I believe it could be produced on stage, in live theatre. All those slamming doors, crossed-over plotlines, and zany characters would lend themselves to some outrageous theatrical moments.



Attending the film I was happy to give in to the instant giddiness that most of the audience immediately lapsed into -beginning to titter and then guffaw while the opening credits were still rolling. If laughter is the "best medicine", and we all know that it is, then this film should be mandatory viewing, and the tickets should look like a medical prescription pad. Viewing this film is definitely good for "what ails you."



Lost love, mistaken identities, bumbling morticians, caskets that come alive, those terrible and dark secrets regarding the patriarch's "special needs", hallucinogenic bursts of inhibition, nudity, toilet hi-jinks, suppressed sex, unrepressed sex, deviant sex, pregnancy, predispositions and misunderstandings, jealousy, an ice queen for a wife and mother, a Spartacus toga party, a centurion's costume, an unpublished novel, harping, cajoling, bondage, wrestling, roof-romping, with enough turnabouts, fop haws, reversals, and surprises to flesh out three other comedic films, plus a really excellent cast -makes this darkest of drawing room comedies land on its dancing feet somewhere lodged half way between Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward, or say George Bernard Shaw and Harold Pinter, who is emulating Carl Reiner, who collaborated with Mel Brooks, after consulting with Woody Allen. This solid little film my not be tinged with "greatness", but it is absolutely the funniest evening I have spend in the theater this year.

Posted on June 21, 2011