Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Death at a Funeral
Directed by Frank Oz
MGM 02/08 DVD/VHS Feature Film
Not Rated

Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) and his wife Jane (Keeley Hawes) have been living in his parent's large country home. She can't wait to move out from under the snubs of his mother, Sandra (Jane Asher). This escape is made possible by the death of his father. Daniel has to take charge of the funeral arrangements, and the burden weighs quite heavily upon his shoulders.

Things start out very badly when the wrong body is delivered in a coffin. Then his very successful brother, Robert (Rupert Graves), flies in from New York City and informs him that he has no money to pay for his half of the funeral expenses. Daniel circulates among the gathered mourners at his father's home and hears that everyone is wondering why he is giving the eulogy rather than Robert, who is a popular novelist.

The other person who is as nervous as Daniel about what people will think is Martha (Daisy Donovan), his first cousin who is introducing her fiancé Simon (Alan Tudyk) to the family. They stop at her brother Troy's (Kris Marshall) place; he is a chemistry student whose hobby is making designer drugs. Martha gives Simon what she thinks is Valium to calm him down, and it turns out to be a hallucinogen instead. Daniel's friend Howard (Andy Nyman), a hypochondriac who is obsessed with a splotch on his wrist, is on the way to the gathering with Justin (Ewen Bremner), a young man who is madly in love with Martha. They reluctantly pick up Uncle Alfie (Peter Vaughan), an angry old man in a wheel chair.

Once everybody arrives, things start going wrong and snow-ball out of control. Simon, in his altered state of consciousness, becomes convinced that someone is trying to escape from the coffin. Martha's snobbish and domineering father, Victor (Peter Egan), a doctor, is stunned that this is the man his daughter has chosen to marry. Uncle Alfie acts up as well, and then there is the strange presence of Peter (Peter Dinklage) who takes Daniel aside and shares a secret about the nature of his past relationship with his father.

Frank Oz directs this British farce, which was written by Dean Craig. The ensemble cast does a bang-up job with the comedy bits, a succession of shocks and surprises which interrupt the somber state of the funeral. Adding to the tension in the country mansion is the impatience of an over-booked minister who can't wait to move on to his next appointment. Daniel manages to say some words about his father that come from his heart after everything that could possibly go wrong does: "We're just thrown here together in a world filled with chaos and confusion . . . with death always lingering around the corner . . . and we do our best." Despite all the bumbling and all the embarrassments, Daniel makes it through the funeral and in true comic form, triumphs in his own special way.

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Special features on the DVD include an audio commentary by director Frank Oz; an audio commentary by screenwriter Dean Craig and actors Alan Tudyk and Andy Nyman; and a gag reel.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat