EULOGY
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Lions Gate Films
Grade: B
Directed by: Michael Clancy
Written by: Michael Clancy
Cast: Hank Azaria, Jesse Bradford, Zooey Deschanel, Glenne
Headly, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Kelly Preston, Ray
Romano, Rip Torn, Ebra Winger, Curtis Garcia, Keith Garcia,
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 9/30/04
There's a reason that so many families are dysfunctional. Our
parents, siblings, grandparents and cousins are the people
who've known us the best and the longest. During that time, it's
difficult for us to hide our weaknesses, and given the hostility
that people feel so often for one another it's only natural, albeit
unfortunate, that our family members know and practice
anything that pushes our buttons.
There's button-pushing galore in Michael Clancy's "Eulogy," a
brief, sporadically amusing comedy that at times seems in need
of a soundtrack. When the humor works, "Eulogy" is wacky.
When some situations should be amusing but are not, they're
still interesting because we come to know these
characters–some of whom are lovable, some (actually just two
of the brats) obnoxious. Given the absence of family circle
gatherings–which were fashionable until the 1960s in America--
only weddings and funerals get extended families to gather. In
the case of this movie, the gathering results from the death of
Grandpa Collins (Rip Torn), a fellow who's had three wives and
enough children to confuse him about their individual names.
You can't blame the adult sons for remembering little about a
man who kept his distance from the rest of his family.
The title derives from a mandate handed to Kate Collins (Zooey
Deschanel), daughter of Daniel (Hank Azaria), now going
through her first year of college and bearing the kind of
weirdness that only the marvelously funny actress Zooey
Deschanel can portray. Her idiosyncracies come in large part
from her dad, whose fame comes from a commercial he did for
peanut butter at about the age of ten and who now stars in porn
pics. Not so amusing are two obnoxious kids, Fred and Ted
Collins (Curtis Garcia and Keith Garcia) who make mush out of
a birthday cake and are pleased that their dad, Skip (Ray
Romano), insisted that they attend the funeral, given the
fireworks that the family gathering has caused.
To show how up-to-date the family is, Lucy Collins (Kelly
Preston) announces her engagement to her lesbian friend, Judy
Arnolds (Famke Janssen) while control freak Alice Collins
(Debra Winger), who has lesbian tendencies herself, makes
particularly cutting remarks about the engagement. Add the
suicidal wife of the dead gramps (Piper Laurie), who at first tries
to do herself in with sleeping pills and later by flying out of a
moving car, and you have the makings of a reasonably cute
dark comedy.
Rated R. 85 minutes © Harvey Karten
at harveycritic@cs.com
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