Death At A Funeral DVD Review

"Death At A Funeral" reviews

DVD

Death At A Funeral

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-02-25 08:57:47

Provider

DVD Review

Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen) and his famous novelist (and spineless!) brother (Rupert Graves) are having to deal with the the funeral of their late father. A task made a lot harder thank to their dysfunctional family members and friends.

So we have: (take a deep breath) a chemistry student who accidentally gives his future brother in law (Alan Tudyk) a particularly strong dose of acid; a foul mouthed, narcoleptic, wheelchair bound granddad; a slimy Ewen Bremner trying to hit it off with an engaged Daisy Donovan who hopes to get married despite her father's disapproving comments (who's a retired Doctor) whilst being harangued by a hypochondriac. Then there's a midget who threatens the brothers with the revelation that their dad was gay (and breathe again!).

With this kind of set up, it's obvious that farce is on the menu. But the problem here is that by trying to replicate the classic louche comedies of old they forget one simple thing: You can have all the the crazy scenarios you want (although we thought the toilet gross out gag really belonged in a whole new film), but you need to care about the characters. Only MacFadyen, former My Family star Kris Marshall and Tudyk really register this.

Speaking of Tudyk, when is this talented US comic actor going to get the breakout film role that he deserves? Too often he excels in minor roles such as Knocked Up and Dodgeball, but despite being a shining star here, as the unwitting drugged up guest this is definitely not the film that is going to do it for him.