Death at a Funeral

After his father dies, Daniel is tasked with getting the funeral together and bringing the rest of his British clan together. As the family, family friends, well-wishers, and secret lovers gather, a series of increasing unfortunate and disastrous events begin to occur. It's up to Daniel to keep things together and give his father a proper send-off before the entire family breaks apart.

I love British comedies. I've already got a thing for the accents, so hearing their deadpan humor and straight acceptance of strange things happening around them. They tend to be a lot calmer than American comedies, and no less funny (in fact, more often than not, more funny). And this one is no different.

It's basically one of those situations where everything that can go wrong, does. Drugs are passed around in an increasing case of mistaken identity, old (and embarrassing) love affairs come to light, and the general family arguments get pushed center stage. It's all set up quite brilliantly, with the whole cast playing off each other in a pitch-perfect way. I particularly liked Alan Tudyk's portrayal of Simon, a man high off his rocker on hallucinogens (he thought they were Valiums). The stuff he gets up to are some of the highlights of the film, and had me in tears laughing.

Unlike many British comedies, this one is a bit of a mix of physical and verbal comedy. While the usual dry British wit is thrown about, many bits of slapstick back them up (especially in regards to that casket...). It can be a tricky thing to balance, but it's really pulled off here.

Not too much more I can say about this one. It's been one of my friend's favorite comedies for a while, and when he finally got me to watch it I can see why. It's an absolutely hilarious film (one that's even got a sweet ending), good for cheering folks up (possibly even at an actual funeral). Best go and see it now, before the remake (which appears to be using the exact same script, except making the jokes... wackier) comes out. You'll be glad you did.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neCY4hh1wJg