Death at a Funeral (2007)

Director:

Frank Oz

Writer (WGA):

Dean Craig (written by)

Release Date:

11 July 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

From director Frank Oz comes the story of a family that puts the F U in funeral.

Plot:

Chaos ensues when a man tries to expose a dark secret regarding a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family.

Plot Keywords:

Secret | Funeral | Uncle | Fiancé Fiancée Relationship | Auditory Hallucination

Awards:

2 wins

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Feb. 10	1:40 AM	TMC
Sun. Feb. 14	4:10 AM	TMC

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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

Also Known As:

Sterben für Anfänger (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and drug content.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA | Germany | UK | Netherlands

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-7 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:Btl | USA:R (certificate # 43149) | France:U | Taiwan:R-12 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | New Zealand:M | Iceland:7 | Japan:G

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment

Trivia:

Frank Oz once said that it was impossible to make Peter Vaughan laugh on the set because he was so deeply into the crotchety character of Uncle Alfie. This is why there was no footage of Peter cracking up to use for the closing credit montage.

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.

Movie Connections:

References Plane Crazy (1928)

Soundtrack:

Love our Time Today

Highbrow meets lowbrow: results in laughter

I saw this at a screening and I had a rousing good time. It starts with a chuckle in the opening credits and slowly builds to spotty laughter, belly laughs, and loud groaning silliness. This is British farce with an expert ensemble cast. Everyone hits their marks and a couple go completely overboard and over-broad (Mr. Vaughn, we're looking at you.) Tudyk and Dinklage have the showiest parts and they feast on them. The rest of the cast is inspired and spot on.

It's a delightful combination of highbrow meeting lowbrow and everything in between. A dash of wit and charm mixed in with a few genuine surprises. A few old tropes are trotted out but there is a bit of backspin on them. If you want a laugh, go!