Who knew death could be so hysterical. I knew it could be funny, but Death at a Funeral is the most creative, witty, and comical movie I have ever seen on the subject. Not only does it have humor that appeals to both Brits and Americans, but anyone that has lost a relative in any part of the world could find this both horrible and hysterical all at the same time. This movie has it all, an ancient, angry uncle, a druggie relative, and the best part, a MIDGET (little person). Check out the rest of this colorful review after the jump.
Death at Funeral is the English black comedy directed by Yoda…ehmmm Frank Oz. He was the guy that voiced Yoda as well as directed movies such as Bowfinger, The Score, and Little Shop of Horrors. The movie stars a wonderful British ensemble who bring their A game to the screen and allow this excellent script to laughably unfold in front of our eyes. The cast includes Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice), Ewen Bremner (The Rundown), Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball), Peter Dinklage (Elf), Rupert Graves (V for Vendetta), and many more solid actors and actresses.
Simply put, this is a story of a funeral gone horribly wrong. Our main character and narrator Daniel (Matthey Macfadyen), has been left in charge of organizing his father’s funeral. As the day starts problems begin to unfold immediately and it represents a funny omen of things to come. I don’t want to give away any of the comical scenes but I’ll let you know this: there is a midget, a guy who has taken a hallucinogen drug, and a crazy uncle, whose legs are paralyzed and who constantly needs attention. Throw all of those things into the basket along with the disgruntled and semi-jealous protagonist, Peter, who is annoyed with his successful brother, Robert, for pretty much abandoning the family.
What I loved about this movie was its continuity and how the script was able to support such a large and dynamic cast. Had one member failed to portray their unique character correctly, it probably would have brought down the quality of the movie. Alan Tudyk, the drugged up boyfriend, Simon, might have been the best character in the movie simply for his role as the naked guy hallucinating throughout the entire funeral. On that note, I would like to give Frank Oz two thumbs up for brilliantly crafting this delicate and both, complex and simple movie. It is one of those flicks where you are laughing pretty hard and consistently throughout. What makes this movie even better is that it spans generational gaps extremely well. Even teenagers of today can appreciate the humor in this movie.
The one downside for me was the fact that I watched the trailer for the American remake of this movie starring Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, and Chris Rock. You see the problem with this was that the trailer showed a majority of the funny parts that you would never expect them to show had you watched the original movie first. While I was watching this flick, I started to recall some of the scenes from the trailer and it took a bit of the surprise factor away, granted I still laughed it would have been nice not to watch that trailer beforehand. After I watched the original movie I also checked out its trailer and it shows almost all the same stuff. I guess they showed those specific scenes because it does indicate most of the major plot points in the movie that leads to the uproarious chaos but it also exhibits some of the best comical points as well.
Overall, this British comedy flowed extremely well, it was one of the funniest movies I have watched this year, the chemistry of the cast was wonderful, and the acting could have scarcely improved. I recommend this to anyone who is having a bad day and needs a smile slapped on their face.
Rating: An uproarious black comedy that would make even Death turn around and say, “that shit’s fucked up!”
Recent Comments