'Death at a Funeral' review
Death brings life to the party in Frank Oz's latest comedy
By Mengly Taing
Published: August 26th, 2007 | 11:46pm
The passing of a loved one is no laughing matter, but in the hands of Frank Oz, neither will it be a silent affair.
In his latest dark comedy, Death at a Funeral, the famed puppeteer-turned-film director who has lent his voice to many popular characters over a career spanning more than 30 years, brings a dysfunctional family together to mark the passing of one of their patriarchs.
The film's main protagonist and the deceased's youngest son, Daniel, is in charge of overseeing his father's funeral. As he struggles to come up with the right words for his father's eulogy, he is distracted by incompetent funeral home employees, pestered by neurotic family members, and hounded by a mysterious man who claims to have been a very close acquaintance of his late father.
When Daniel agrees to meet the stranger, alone, he shockingly finds himself face to face with his father's hidden past. With incriminating photos tucked inside his pocket, the stranger presents Daniel with an ultimatum that forces Daniel and his older brother, Robert, to play the role of amateur thugs to preserve their father's secret from being exposed to their family and friends. They tie up and gag the blackmailer in their father's downstairs study, but it's not long before other members of their tribe accidentally fall upon the brothers and the mysterious man twisting and turning on their basement floor.
While a crime is being committed downstairs, unknowing members of Daniel's clan are entangled in troubles of their own as they attempt to come to terms with one another's strange behaviors and anxieties filled with jealousy, lust, and doses of a potent hallucinogenic drug that leaves cousin Simon nude and heartbroken on the roof.
Although the funeral appears to be a catastrophe after the brothers fail to attempt to bury their father with his secret, the mark of Daniel's father's passing does usher in a series of new changes for their entire clan — changes that are sure to bring them all closer together.
Oz exudes an uncanny ability to portray life on film the way it is in reality with its unpredictable blunders and characters that remind us of family and friends we already know. In addition, Death at a Funeral has all the elements of a signature Oz comedy with an ensemble cast of endearing characters and rollicking laughs in nearly every scene.
I was surprised to find overcome by laughter among a crowd of strangers in the theater. Somehow we all could relate to the insecurities that formulate at our own family functions. I was rolling out of my seat with delight and I'm sure you will too.
Issue #33
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