Review: Death at a Funeral

When Death at a Funeral was scheduled to screen on opening night at the New Zealand International Film Festival, there were hoots of derision coming from the more refined cinema-goers. What was a film by Frank Oz, director of the rather plain Stepford Wives remake and The Muppets Take Manhattan, doing in such a typically arthouse environment? Ticket sales proved them wrong, however, and the packed theatre was so enchanted that one could hardly hear the film over the uproarious laughter from the audience. Death at a Funeral was a hit.

On this outing, Oz has left America and traveled to his native England to create an old-fashioned British comedy that hearkens back to the days of Alec Guiness or Peter Sellers. A group of typical English stereotypes gather for a funeral in a large country home, and everything that could go wrong does. English mannerisms are exploited with much hilarity, using farce and slapstick to create a theatrical feel.

In fact, the film almost feels more suited to the theatre stage than the cinema screen and indeed benefits from such a concise setting. It’s an exercise in grouping a bunch of idiosyncratic characters and placing them in the pressure-cooker situation of a funeral. Things start to go wrong, and before long the events have spiraled out of all control. We have a fair idea of where things are going, but some great comic timing allows few jokes to fall flat.

Weaknesses are any attempts to create seriousness. Rupert Graves, as the novelist brother who jets in from New York, is weak. His smug character seems out of place and he never really fits smoothly into the madcap scenarios that play out. He’s not good as the funny man or the straight man and lets the team down.

The others are perfectly cast. Alan Tudyk plays an uptight solicitor who mistakenly takes strong hallucinogenic drugs thinking that they’re valium pills. The inevitable slapstick routine that results is very funny, mainly due to his ridiculous facial expressions.

Rather than inserting jokes into a full dramatic storyline, Death at a Funeral is crafted around the jokes. As a result it’s more consistently funny, if a little weightless. But it’s good to see a fun British comedy, and this one is a real crowd-pleaser.