Ensemble Cast = A Comedy to Die for
With the awesome tagline “From director Frank Oz comes the story of a family that puts the F U in funeral” Death at a Funeral is a quirky hilarious and heartwarming story which focuses on a dysfunctional British family in the morbid setting of a funeral.
The DVD was released last month and was directed by Frank Oz who previously directed such films as The Stepford Wives, Little Shop of Horrors and The Muppets Take Manhattan and was written by Dean Craig.
In this film, all Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) wants to do is provide a nice funeral for his father’s death but as his family and friends are gathered the services stumble upon many interruptions including one man (Peter Dinklage), a stranger to everyone except the deceased, who has a dark secret which he threatens to expose unless financially compensated. Never mind all the drama brought about by Daniel’s family members and friends: competition with his famous writer brother who’s back from the US, a friend who obsesses about his recent rash fearing it may be a deadly disease, his cousin’s fiancé hallucinating on drugs, and his handicapped, bitter pain in the arse Uncle Alfie.
This type of film could easily be translated into a play with its one major location and the way the events carry out through the ensemble of characters. Think of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) which was originally a play and was adapted to the screen. The majority of the film takes place in the one location of the Brewster house with several characters appearing and disappearing adding more and more layers to the chaos in which Mortimer (Cary Grant) is trying to control. Also coincidently Arsenic and Old Lace involves a plot with multiple deaths and, with the presence of a cop in the home, the characters become increasingly conscious and paranoid about their actions. In Death at a Funeral Mortimer and the Brewster house is replaced by Daniel and his home and the cop is replaced with a Priest which seems even more appropriate of a moral reminder.
With an ensemble cast so well put together its hard to pick out any one person who stands out the most but the American actor Alan Tudyk (Knocked Up, Serenity) must be recognized for his impressive scene stealing performance. We are introduced to his character Simon (yes he has an English accent) as a nervous guy who is dependent on Martha (Daisy Donovan), his fiancé, for support and is dreading the funeral of her uncle because her father will be there to judge and belittle Simon. One quick stop at Martha’s brother’s house, the pharmacist student, and everything goes wrong for Simon because Martha gives him what she thinks is valium but in fact is her brother’s experimental drug which causes similar effects as acid. Throughout the rest of the film we are sucked into Simon’s hilarious moments of hallucinations, nudity, and emotional outbursts. What’s great about this character and Tudyk’s performance is this character could easily become just a source of comic relief but instead he actually grows throughout the film and Simon and Martha’s relationship strengthens through the judgment from others of Simon’s strange and inappropriate behavior.
If you like black comedies and are looking for a good laugh, Death at a Funeral is the film to see.
~Shaboomer~
Run Fatboy Run: Three Comedies in One
I’m very excited about Run Fatboy Run which opens in theaters this Friday 3/28. It was originally released in the UK in September of 2007 and was supposed to be released in the US in December of 2007 but was delayed a few times and now will finally be out in the US this weekend. The film topped the UK box office in its opening week and remained at the top of the chart for four straight weeks. To date it has earned over £10.5 million. Hopefully it will gain similar success here in the US.
The plot of the film focuses on Dennis (Simon Pegg) a slightly overweight and childish middle-aged man who left his pregnant fiancée of five years at the alter. He regrets this action and wants her back but she is now happily with an American played by Hank Azaria. In order to prove himself and win his ex-fiancée back he’s decided to show that he can be dedicated by committing to a Nike River-run marathon in London. Now he must train with the help of his friend Gordon played by Pegg’s good friend Dylan Moran (Shaun of the Dead).
What I am most excited about is the collaboration of three great comedians coming together with all their wit and talents in order to produce this film. These three all seem to have their own variation on comedy and it should be interesting to see what kind of humor will be produced from this unique mix.
First there is David Schwimmer, best known as Ross from the hit series Friends making his motion picture directing debut with this film. Schwimmer has had some directing experience in which he directed ten episodes of Friends and a few episodes of other TV series. As an actor Schwimmer’s comedic acting tended to focus on the romantic comedies in which he is a lovable nerd that needs a little help in order to be with the one he loves. Having the experience of playing these types of roles will help him in his directing decisions since the main character is of a similar character type.
Next, another American comedian Michael Ian Black, who wrote and starred in Stella wrote the screenplay of this film. Stella was an offbeat sketch-comedy with the tagline: “Dumb comedy dressed up in a suit.” It was aired on Comedy Central in 2005 with a short run until it was cancelled, but has since gained an underground following and fan club. Many of the jokes focused on the absurd parodying of relationships and situations in typical dramas. It makes sense that Black would write this serious story about a man trying to win back the one he loves with such an absurd idea of the man showing this commitment by running in a marathon.
Finally there is British comedian Simon Pegg, best known for writing and starring in the cult zombie spoof film Shaun of the Dead who co-wrote this screenplay and stars in the film. In Shaun of the Dead Pegg’s character is similar to his character in this film as Dennis: they both are romantics at heart but have strong commitment problems. Similar to Black, Pegg also likes to focus on bizarre and parody. With zombie spoofs and cop spoofs (Hot Fuzz) already under his belt, he is now focused on the underdog sport spoof. He also wrote and starred in his own British TV series Spaced which is similar to Stella with its absurd sketch-comedy qualities.
I’ve been waiting a long time for this film since I heard about it while I was in London in June 2007. I can’t wait to finally see the creation of these three comic brains this weekend and I suggest you do the same.
~Shaboomer~
