Film Reviews

Death at a Funeral

• Rating:
• Director: Frank Oz.
• Starring: Matthew Macfayden, Kris Marshall, Ewan Bremner, Daisy Donovan.
• Details: US / UK / Germany / 90mins (15A).

A family gathers together for the funeral of a well-respected man, but dignity is not a word that comes to mind when they try to give him a proper send off. The day starts badly when the pallbearers arrive with the wrong body - that's as good as the day gets for the bereaved son Daniel (Macfayden), a frustrated writer, and it never gets that good again. Guests - including his glib but successful brother Robert (Rupert Graves), a foul-mouthed uncle, a drugged-up fiancee, an indifferent vicar, a hypochondriac and a jilted lover (Bremner) - soon arrive, but it's only when the mysterious Peter (Peter Dinklage) shows up that things truly take a turn for the horrible. This black farce hits the ground jogging and keeps the same tone throughout even though the jokes can be a little predictable. Director Frank Oz doesn't shun the gross-out humour when it's called for, but the real comedy comes from the characters' reactions to the goings-on, and everyone involved turns in a decent performance, having fun cooking up a madcap storm. Macfayden puts the so-so Middletown performance behind him and proves he can do a Richard Curtis-type comedy when asked, while his support do more than just wait for jokes to come their way. It's lowbrow humour with a highbrow delivery, and Oz treads the fine line with ease.

Review by Gavin Burke