Looking for a good time? Try a funeral. In England. With a midget. Some blackmail. And hallucinogenic drugs.
Funerals rarely bring out the best in people. Grief is rarely flattering. The new British comedy "Death at a Funeral" by director Frank Oz ("In & Out" and "The Muppets Take Manhattan") features a family of oddballs and the quirkiness amp turned up to 11.
When the patriarch of a well-to-do British family dies, it falls to son Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen, "Pride and Prejudice") to pick up the pieces. He has to plan the funeral, see after his newly widowed mother (played with a chilly perfection by Jane Asher), give the eulogy, appease his nagging-yet-good-natured wife who wants to move out of the family home, and try to eek out some money for Dad's big send-off from his famous author brother Robert (Rupert Graves, "V for Vendetta").
Things start to go south right away when the wrong corpse is delivered to the house. It's a cheap gag, but it helps set the tone for what's to come. Did I mention a midget, some blackmail and hallucinogenic drugs?
Yes, enter the "mystery guest" at the funeral. He's hard to miss because he's about four feet tall. Maybe. With shoes on. That mystery guest is Peter (Peter Dinklage, whom you may remember as the pint-sized children's author attacking Will Ferrell in "Elf").
When Peter approaches Daniel, telling him, "I had some photos I wanted to show you," Daniel at first shrugs him off. But once Peter gets Daniel's attention, the photos speak volumes. It seems Peter and the deceased had a rather, er, close relationship. Don't want your recently widowed mother to find out? "15,000 pounds should do it," says Peter, who just wants what's owed to him. After all, doesn't he deserve something? Otherwise, he says, he'll feel "like a cheap slut."
Unfortunately, Daniel has spent his dough on the funeral, and Robert claims to be all washed out after that first-class ticket from New York.
Meanwhile Simon (a standout Alan Tudyk; you may remember him as Steve the Pirate in "Dodgeball" or caught him in this summer's "Knocked Up") is tripping out of his mind after accidentally taking what he thought was Valium. It's hard enough to conduct a somber memorial without someone who is hearing strange things … coming from inside the coffin.
And what British farce would be complete without a grumpy old man in a wheelchair? Enter Uncle Alfie (Peter Vaughan) and his hapless "handler" Howard (Andy Nyman). How did Howard get stuck wheeling Alfie around? Luck, I guess. Or lack thereof. In fact, his bad luck might also explain this mysterious rash on his hand. And his allergy to almonds. Uh-oh, looks like Uncle Alfie needs to use the restroom. And he's going to need a little help. Oh, Howard …
And hey, the movie is called "Death at a Funeral," right? So doesn't that mean someone is going to die? Hmm … who could it be?
While it may all sound way too wacky, the smart ensemble cast succeeds in pulling it off. There isn't a weak role in the bunch. "Death at a Funeral" manages to traverse the high and low brows of humor with only a few minor stumbles along the way (the Uncle Alfie bathroom scene, for instance, is an appetite-ruiner).
"Exciting, isn't it?" asks Daniel's wife, Jane (Keeley Hawes). "I mean, for a funeral."
Of course it is. After all, the first three letters of "funeral" spell F-U-N.
B+
'Death at a Funeral'
Main Art Theatre, Royal Oak
