Death at a Funeral

'Death at a Funeral', is a story of a funeral gone wrong. Director Frank Oz, takes us on a journey through a black comedy about a eccentric and wealthy British funeral turned upside down when a stranger appears and admits to be a gay lover of the deceased. Actors, Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, Andy Nyman, Ewen Bremner, Daisy Donovan, and others; exceptionally take on the roles of the mournful but eccentric characters. I laughed out loud as the funeral began to go astray and characters personalities were unraveled, and I would recommend this dark comedy to anyone.

The movie opens with the body of a wealthy British patriarch being delivered to the home of his family for the funeral, and the fun begins when the wrong body is delivered. Two brothers argue over the expenses of the funeral for their father while the family and friends begin to show up for the service. One family member mistakenly takes acid instead of Valium and starts the events that make everything go wrong. Suddenly a stranger shows up and says that he is a secretive gay lover of the father and that he demands to be payed for his silence. After a struggle to keep the stranger from talking, he hits his head and the brothers now think that he is dead. Now, they decide to hide the strangers body in the casket with their father, and proceed with the ceremony when the casket begins to knock. I won't ruin the end for anyone that wants to see this film, but it ends with a happy and problem free resolution.

I found that every actor portrayed the characters very effectively and brought life to this dark comedy. I have not seen any other films with these actors, but I look forward to seeing their other works now. You could feel the stress that was in the scene's and the emotion of the day.

The music was light hearten and cheery, which made this funeral feel sunny. I liked that the emphasis was on the comedy of the piece and not so much the dark side. There were quite a good amount of full shots that showed the beautiful green landscape in the background and filled the shot up with multiple characters.

Everyone needs a laugh every once in a while, and I highly recommend this this film for those dreary days. Chris Rock made a remake of this movie in 2010, but I think that I prefer this version more. There is always a surprise around the corner and you never know what is around the corner during this film. This film was a delight to watch and a movie that I was a little apprehensive to watch, but it was hilarious and I was glad that I took the time afterwards.