Plot
Chaos ensues when a man tries to expose a dark secret regarding a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family.
Release Year: 2007
Rating: 7.3/10 (45,437 voted)
Critic's Score: 67/100
Director:
Frank Oz
Stars: Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage, Ewen Bremner
Storyline Daniel is a decent young man, married to Jane, still living at his father's home. When his father dies, it is up to him to organize his funeral. On this painful morning, the suitable grave expression on his face, Daniel is ready to welcome his father's friends and relatives. But preserving the dignity inherent in such circumstances will be a hard task. Particularly with an undertaker who botches his work, the return from the USA of his famous but selfish brother, his cousin's fiancé who has accidentally ingested drugs, the presence a moron who takes advantage of the sad event to win back the heart (or rather the body) of a woman who is about to marry another, of a handicapped old uncle who is also the most unbearable pain in the neck. To cap it all, Daniel notices the presence among the mourners of a mysterious dwarf nobody else seems to know...
Cast: Matthew Macfadyen
-
Daniel
(as Matthew MacFadyen)
Keeley Hawes
-
Jane
Andy Nyman
-
Howard
Ewen Bremner
-
Justin
Daisy Donovan
-
Martha
Alan Tudyk
-
Simon
Jane Asher
-
Sandra
Kris Marshall
-
Troy
Rupert Graves
-
Robert
Peter Vaughan
-
Uncle Alfie
Thomas Wheatley
-
The Reverend
Peter Egan
-
Victor
Peter Dinklage
-
Peter
Brendan O'Hea
-
Undertaker
Jeremy Booth
-
Mourner
Taglines:
Last rites... and wrongs.
Release Date: 11 July 2007
Filming Locations: Chenies Manor House, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Box Office Details
Budget: $9,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: €15,223
(Netherlands)
(22 July 2007)
(10 Screens)
Gross: $8,579,684
(USA)
(30 December 2007)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Stars Alan Tudyk and Peter Dinklage were the only American actors in the film.
Goofs:
Continuity:
When Simon gets out of the bathroom window he is completely naked, but moments later he appears in the same position leaning over to spit and you can see the edge of his underwear at the bottom right of the screen.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Daniel:
[giving instructions to the pallbearers]
Just, uh, straight through there and to the left, please.
User Review
Who knew a funeral could be so funny?
Rating: 10/10
A midget, hallucinogenic drugs, homosexuality, sibling rivalry, nudity,
and a funeral come together in riotous chaotic harmony in Death at a
Funeral. The films story unfolds in the span of an afternoon and
despite the short duration of plot Frank Oz, directory, endears us to
the characters with witty and realistic dialog. What better setting
than a funeral to highlight the humor and irony of life? The
characters' mourning is completely relatable because it isn't
overwrought or melodramatic and is thus all the more genuine.
Family turmoil overshadows the funeral and propels the characters into
awkward but hilarious situations. The film does not forget it takes
place during a funeral and by the end a heartfelt eulogy is delivered
in spite of the lunacy surrounding it.
The humor is just dry enough to complement the somewhat dark comedy but
not so dry that it alienates the audience.
I haven't laughed this much at a film in a very long time...especially
a film about a funeral.
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