A Funny Thing Happened at the Funeral

In the farcical Death at a Funeral, a dysfunctional British family gathers for the patriarch's funeral, only to see old conflicts between two estranged brothers resurface, and new ones arise when a mysterious guest arrives claiming to be the dead man's gay lover.

Frank Oz directs the movie with an amusing touch that tints it a few shades of black comedy, but does not make it a dark one.

This serves Death a Funeral well considering it draws a lot of its humor from the many things one should not do a funeral, like accidentally drop acid…or drop the casket on its side.

It has its broad moments, as well as its more intimate breakthroughs, especially for the feuding brothers (played by Matthew MacFadyen of Pride & Prejudice and Rupert Graves).

You definitely should pay your respects to Death at a Funeral, but don’t expect anything less than a classy affair, or you will be quite disappointed.

My Rating ***

Photo: MGM.