Sid Smith, a reviewer for the LA Times that I don't recall seeing before, emblazons "Death at a Funeral" with a "Recommended" title, writing:
On the morning of their father's funeral, the family and friends of the deceased each arrive with his or her own roiling anxieties. The son, Daniel, knows he will have to face his flirty, blow-hard, famous-novelist brother Robert, who's just flown in from New York--not to mention the promises of a new life he's made to his wife Jane. Meanwhile, Daniel's cousin Martha and her dependable new fiancé Simon are desperate to make a good impression on Martha's uptight father--a plan that literally goes out the window when Simon accidentally ingests a designer drug en route to the service, leaving him prone to uncontrollable bouts of delirium and nudity in front of his potential in-laws. Then comes the real shocker: a mysterious guest who threatens to unveil an earth-shattering family secret. It is now up to the two brothers to hide the truth from their family and friends, and figure out how to not only bury their dearly beloved, but also the secret he's been keeping.
August 2007
1 hr. 30 min.
R
Cast: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Andy Nyman, Ewen Bremner, Daisy Donovan
Director: Frank Oz
Genre: Black Comedy, Farce, Comedy, Ensemble Film
This film is lethal farce, combining hints of "The Lavender Hill Mob," doses of Joe Orton and a smidgen of the Farrelly brothers' scatology in its mix. It's sillier but funnier than "Knocked Up," the summer's other notable comedy. Plopped on Agatha Christie-like terrain and featuring a mostly English cast -- British-born director Frank Oz of Muppet renown is at the helm -- the movie has a transoceanic pearl in the form of actor Alan Tudyk, a Texas-born off-Broadway veteran who had a small part in "Knocked Up" as a TV boss. A man must deal with his unruly British family as he tries to make his father's funeral a perfect event. (Death at a Funeral - LA Times - Sid Smith)
On the morning of their father's funeral, the family and friends of the deceased each arrive with his or her own roiling anxieties. The son, Daniel, knows he will have to face his flirty, blow-hard, famous-novelist brother Robert, who's just flown in from New York--not to mention the promises of a new life he's made to his wife Jane. Meanwhile, Daniel's cousin Martha and her dependable new fiancé Simon are desperate to make a good impression on Martha's uptight father--a plan that literally goes out the window when Simon accidentally ingests a designer drug en route to the service, leaving him prone to uncontrollable bouts of delirium and nudity in front of his potential in-laws. Then comes the real shocker: a mysterious guest who threatens to unveil an earth-shattering family secret. It is now up to the two brothers to hide the truth from their family and friends, and figure out how to not only bury their dearly beloved, but also the secret he's been keeping.
August 2007
1 hr. 30 min.
R
Cast: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, Andy Nyman, Ewen Bremner, Daisy Donovan
Director: Frank Oz
Genre: Black Comedy, Farce, Comedy, Ensemble Film
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