Death at a Funeral review

I have a soft spot for British humor, and a fondness for black humor as well. Frank Oz's Death at a Funeral does both very, very well.

The film follows a bunch of family and friends(Matthew McFayden, Rupert Graves, and Alan Tudyk, among others) of a recently deceased man. After a mishap involving hallucinagenic drugs, the funeral is thrown into chaos. To make matters worse, a mysterious midget(Peter Dinklage) shows up with a devastating family secret.

From the first scene of the movie, you know the film has great timing, hilarious dialogue, and absolutely ridiculous situations. Ohhh, it's so hard not to give anything away!

I'll just say that this film has a killer(pardon the pun) sense of humor. It's bleak yet not morbid. It's dry, but not boring. It's timing is the real reason this movie works. On at LEAST three occasions an absurd situation is immediately followed up by a perfectly timed sight gag or observation or coincidence that just hilights the comedy perfectly.

The acting, the cinematography, and the music are all pretty much secondary to the plot and script, but it's all serviceable to good.

The film is pretty short, only 91 minutes, but it seems to drag a little bit during the first twenty minutes and the last ten minutes. But the hour in between, boy is it a riot.

It isn't for everybody, though. Many a person have told me that British humor is "stupid," and it really is an aquired taste. But if you love Monty python or the like type of dry situational comedy, Death at a Funeral is definitely for you.

86/100