Trailers are the only form of advertising that works on me.  I can see a commercial for soap and never think about it again in my entire life, but if I see a movie trailer that looks interesting, I'll log that away until I get my mitts on the movie to watch it.  Death at a Funeral was one of those movies.

Daniel's father has died and after a brief mix up, all is well on its way.  Except everyone coming to the funeral has their own set of problems or in some cases, an agenda.  In short?  Everything goes wrong.  From hallucinogenic drugs to blackmail to knocking corpses to money problems to Uncle Alfie to nakedness to everything being so green, you never know what's going to crop up next, and neither do the poor characters.  Here's to hoping it all works out in the end!

I enjoy a bit of dark humor here and there and the British seem to have an excellent hang of it and I was quite pleased.  Everything that can go wrong does, and in some cases, on an epic scale.  While you won't be snickering throughout the entire movie (I often wanted to punch Daniel's brother Robert), there will be many places where you'll burst out with a good laugh.  There will be several things you expect to happen by the end of the movie, and they all get there so you won't be left unsatisfied.

The acting is what makes this short (91 minutes) movie a good bit of fun (though in the gag reel they're constantly cracking up at one another and screwing up their lines because of it).  From Matthew MacFadyen as Daniel to Peter Dinklage as Peter (haha, original, but I do enjoy Peter Dinklage), along Frank Oz as the director, everyone plays the parts well enough for you to get involved and be interested in every character's story as the day progresses and events unfold inside the small house and the lawn around it...and even a bit on the roof.

Expect some swearing, a moment of two of "EW, gross," and a naked guy (tell me that isn't making you wonder just what the heck happened during this funeral), but overall, it's much better than the past two movies made in the states that I watched earlier (as in there isn't nearly as much swearing as there was in Superbad and while there is a naked dude, we don't see his ding-dong like in Forgetting Sarah Marshall).  In that respect, this movie gets higher marks.

So if you're stuck on what to watch and want a bit of a laugh and enjoy mildly dark humor, this movie is a good bet to settle on.

NT

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age