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August 31, 2007 > Arts & Entertainment > Morbid Funeral presents stiff characters, unoriginal comedy

Morbid Funeral presents stiff characters, unoriginal comedy

By Sean McBeath | Thresher Editorial Staff

Unfortunately, Death at a Funeral is one of those comedies in which almost all the secrets and funny moments are disclosed during the trailers. Here, only one true surprise is left. It is a shame, because the premise of the story leaves so much promise and opportunity for a brilliant tale. However, British writer Dean Craig (Caffeine) fails to explore nearly every available creative avenue and instead settles for a predictable set of cliche plot devices.

Following a delightful introductory credit sequence, the story’s setting is laid out: Daniel’s (Pride & Prejudice’s Matthew Macfadyen) father is recently deceased, and the funeral is set to take place the afternoon of the plot’s beginning. Viewers receive a brief introduction to Daniel, his wife Jane (Tomb Raider: Legend’s Keeley Harves) and his mother Sandra (A for Andromeda’s Jane Asher). The story follows various guests to the funeral without any particular creativity or humor to break up an otherwise uninteresting and mostly irrelevant sequence.

With the introduction of each new character, the audience is treated to another neurotic and dysfunctional member of Death at a Funeral’s collection of misfits — there do not appear to be any stable people in the family. As the film goes on, it seems as if Craig pulled lines out of a hat and decided that at random times throughout the film a character should pop into the main story line and interrupt by tossing in his assigned words. Detailing events at the funeral, the remainder of the plot ends up a boring mix of character stories that go nowhere, as the film closes with the end of the funeral.

That’s not to say that Death at a Funeral does not entertain at all. The story may be positively mediocre, but Craig and director Frank Oz (The Stepford Wives) manage to slip in enough humor to make the story bearable. Filled with generally morbid jokes, as one might expect from a funeral tale, the laughs come mostly from the shock value of what takes place. Because of the twisted story line, any other attempts at humor often feel disconnected and contrived.

Of course, many viewers might not mind that the most humorous scenes in the movie are the ones most disconnected to the strife and discord experienced by Daniel and his brother, Robert (V for Vendetta’s Rupert Graves). Alan Tudyk (Knocked Up) delivers a fantastic performance as Simon, the fiance of one of Daniel’s cousins. Despite playing a character who is tripping on acid for the entire film, Tudyk certainly rescues Death at a Funeral from the grave its otherwise flat delivery dug for itself.

The whole film seems rushed, as if Craig and Oz had no time to explore the myriad connections between cast members. The only truly interesting relationship in the tale is that between Daniel, an unsuccessful writer, and Robert, a successful novelist who lives in New York. Their interplay is the main focus of the story, but rather than using their unspoken tension as a way to drive the story, it is left on the back burner and merely distracts the audience. Other characters’ interactions are no better, limited mostly to small talk and a few petty inquests.

Daniel’s character is the only one which shows any growth whatsoever. The remainder of the cast merely carries out the roles they took on in depressing regularity. And even Daniel’s dynamic occurs only within the final five minutes of the credit roll, leaving no room to explore the effect or even the full substance of his transformation.

Death at a Funeral ends up feeling like a short story stretched over a 90 minute canvas by overused jokes. While Craig does not offer the audience anything profound, he gives them just enough comedy to make the film worth seeing once.

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