Death At A Funeral - Frank Oz
After seeing who was involved with this film I was so excited. You wouldn’t need a great story for these incredibly talented people to bring us something special. And it’s directed by Frank Oz!!!
Opening Credits
Very rarely will you see me mention the credits. This film makes a big point of them. We are watching the Google maps view of the hearse arriving at the wake.
It felt very long – like old school running the entire cast long. The sombre delivery of the wrong body at the start sets the mood for the entire film. It is really important for a film like to set the tone well and to set it early.
The Pills
A central part of the story is a bottle of hallucinogenic pills that get given incorrectly to the wrong people. The pills have a good setup – we know what they are. So does Troy, Kris Marshall (Love Actually & The Merchant Of Venice), but he is absent when they are first administered.
Troy loses the bottle later on. Simon, Alan Tudyk (Rogue One & Frozen) is the first recipient of the pills. The pills are introduced again and again for comic relief it becomes too much. You can’t just have a nod to how much you repeated the joke at the end to get out of it.
The Brilliance of Alan Tudyk
Alan is required to deliver an incredibly difficult performance. He is a fiancé trying to make a great impression and is stressed out about it. He is given a Vallium – so he thinks – to help him out.
What is so hard about this performance is that he only has a few scenes to show his normal self – he has to nail this. Then he is completely off his face for the rest of the film. But he is tethered by his desire to make a good impression – Tudyk walks this line perfectly. Everything really was so green.
Matthew Macfadyen Is Awesome
Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks & Succession), plays the ‘responsible’ son, Daniel. He plays awkward so well. You might think that this is easy but it is much harder than you think.
There is an incredible scene where he is given the eulogy from palm cards. He pauses to flip the palm cards as he delivers the eulogy. This sort of acting is hard – impressive work.
Get Rid Of The Body
The main plot is how to get rid of Peter, Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones & Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) is more than a bit ridiculous. Then they accidentally kill him and now need to get rid of the body – but he isn’t actually dead.
How on earth did they all miss that and immediately jump to murder? The jumps of reason that the film asks us to take here are not only far-fetched they are completely unbelievable.
The Verdict
Overall a weak plot with repeated plot points that don’t work well on the second or third time. Coupled with a completely unbelievable main plot-line this doesn’t bode well.
Having said that there are some absolutely brilliant set pieces and the film is worth watching for these. The performances of two of the main characters are well worth it.
