by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
A- Rated R 90 min
This offbeat British film could be the funniest movie to come out this season. The comedy is drawn from a funeral that has gone terribly wrong with one hilarious revelation after another, making for a day that no one will soon forget. First, the wrong body is delivered to the house, and things go downhill from there.
Sandra’s (Jane Asher) husband died of a sudden heart attack. Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen), Sandra’s oldest son, is in charge of the funeral. When the funeral home delivers the wrong body, Daniel takes that as a bad omen. His best-selling novelist brother Robert (Rupert Graves) has flown in from the States and agreed to pay half the expenses of the funeral, but when Daniel reminds him of this obligation, he waffles.
Meanwhile, Daniel’s cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan) hopes she can use the funeral to introduce her fiancé Simon (Alan Tudyk) to her conservative father. But when they pick up another person going to the funeral, Martha mistakenly gives Simon LSD that was labeled as Valium. So as they travel to the funeral, Simon starts tripping his brains out. This guffaw-producing vehicle keeps the laughs coming as the funeral turns into a farce. Wheelchair-bound Uncle Alfie (Peter Vaughan) becomes a problem when he needs to use the bathroom in a room where other events have tumbled into free-fall.
Daniel notices a stranger co-mingling with his friend Peter (Peter Dinklage), a dwarf who is but four feet tall. Peter bugs Daniel to have a word with him in a private place. Daniel meets him in his dad’s office to hear what he has to say, and the news is so shocking that Daniel freaks out. More shocking, the little guy is blackmailing the family. So, one thing leads to another, and the dwarf gets tied up until they figure out what to do with him.
By now, Simon is in the grips of an acid trip and ends up on the roof naked. The pastor, who is officiating at the funeral, is late to his next appointment. So, with the dwarf tied up in the other room and Simon naked on the roof, the funeral has turned into a circus. To calm down Peter the dwarf, one of the guests gives him acid from the bottle labeled Valium. Things are spiraling into pandemonium, which leads to other guffaw-producing mayhem.
Frank Oz (voice of Miss Piggy) has deftly directed this typically British comedy with an all-star cast of distinguished English actors. The one-liners are rapidly paced, which keeps the laugh-level high, while the dialogue is innovative and funny. Just when viewers think the funeral couldn’t get any more messed up, something else goes wrong.
As we all know, funerals can be boring and depressing. This funeral, however, is brimming with surprises and funny situations. By the time the events become chaotic, Daniel has given up trying to save the day, and his fiancé sympathizes with his problems and stops demanding that they get a flat. She talks him down from the roof, but by then, other guests have taken the acid and are also tripping. The versatile actor, Peter Linkage (Station Agent, Nip/Tuck) steals the movie with his comedic acting.
The bottom line: This movie is a laugh riot that delivers what it promises. It should become a sleeper hit, based on word of mouth alone.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
