Reviews

Death at a Funeral

A lively boneyard romp

By TOM MEEK | August 15, 2007

2.0 Stars

DEATH AT A FUNERAL: What else would there be?

Funerals in American movies seldom liven things up. But in Britain they can be the life of the party. Four Weddings and a Funeral and almost anything Peter Sellers was ever in take flight when it comes to the Last Rites. In the case of Death at a Funeral, with a screenplay by Brit Dean Craig and direction by American Frank Oz, the result is a bit stiff. Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice) and Rupert Graves are well cast as estranged brothers splitting hairs over money during their pop’s final send-off, and Alan Tudyk steals the film as the nervous son-in-law-to-be who loses his shit and his britches when he inadvertently pops a handful of hallucinogens. But gags involving excrement and gay dwarfs from the deceased’s past don’t do justice to the cinematic funeral tradition. Sellers would be proud of Tudyk’s comic romp, but he’d frown on the brain-dead excesses.

Related: Review: Death at a Funeral, The Pink Panther, Politics as usual?, More

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Peter Sellers, More

| More

view all

[ 05/29 ] Brad Hooper @ Andy's Old Port Pub

[ 05/29 ] karaoke with DJ Ponyfarm @ Slainte

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | April 18, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: UNDEFEATED | March 15, 2012
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

REVIEW: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX | March 01, 2012
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.