Death at a Funeral (2007)

Chaos ensues when a man tries to expose a dark secret regarding a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family.

Director:

Frank Oz

Writer:

Dean Craig

Stars:

Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, Ewen Bremner

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Daniel (as Matthew MacFadyen)
Keeley Hawes	...	Jane
Andy Nyman	...	Howard
Ewen Bremner	...	Justin
Daisy Donovan	...	Martha
Alan Tudyk	...	Simon
Jane Asher	...	Sandra
Kris Marshall	...	Troy
Rupert Graves	...	Robert
Peter Vaughan	...	Uncle Alfie
Thomas Wheatley	...	The Reverend
Peter Egan	...	Victor
Peter Dinklage	...	Peter
Brendan O'Hea	...	Undertaker
Jeremy Booth	...	Mourner

Storyline

Daniel is a decent young man, married to Jane, still living at his father's home. When his father dies, it is up to him to organize his funeral. On this painful morning, the suitable grave expression on his face, Daniel is ready to welcome his father's friends and relatives. But preserving the dignity inherent in such circumstances will be a hard task. Particularly with an undertaker who botches his work, the return from the USA of his famous but selfish brother, his cousin's fiancé who has accidentally ingested drugs, the presence a moron who takes advantage of the sad event to win back the heart (or rather the body) of a woman who is about to marry another, of a handicapped old uncle who is also the most unbearable pain in the neck. To cap it all, Daniel notices the presence among the mourners of a mysterious dwarf nobody else seems to know...

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Plot Keywords:

uncle | secret | funeral | saliva | sibling rivalry | 

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Taglines:

From director Frank Oz comes the story of a family that puts the F U in funeral.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and drug content

Details

Country:

USA Germany UK Netherlands

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 July 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Muerte en un funeral

Filming Locations:

Chenies Manor House, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£357,212 (UK) (2 November 2007)

Gross:

£2,754,050 (UK) (9 July 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Parabolic Pictures Inc., Stable Way Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actors who played married couple, Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) and Jane (Keeley Hawes), are husband and wife in real life.

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Goofs

Troy drops the bottle of 'Valium' on the kitchen table, label face up, to answer the door. His sister Martha walks by and the bottle is laying label face down.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Daniel: [giving instructions to the pallbearers] Just, uh, straight through there and to the left, please.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits give the name of each performer with a blooper shot of them cracking up during filming.

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Connections

Referenced in Richard Roeper & the Movies: Death at a Funeral (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Love Our Time Today"
Performed by Yamit Mamo
Written by Murray Gold

User Reviews

Death at a Funeral: humor before the grave.

The laughs begin during the animated credits which prepares the film going public for the buffoonery to follow. Death at a Funeral (DaaF) is directed by Frank Oz. Because of the nature of this film I believe Mr. Oz is paying homage to the late, great, director, Robert Altman, particularly his film A Wedding. Both A Wedding and DaaF are both off beat, extremely, funny, and very non-typical of weddings and funerals, in which they both portray. In tribute to Mr. Altman, Mr. Oz also uses an ensemble cast of well known actors by face but not by name. The audience has seen their work and in this film they most definitely make you laugh. This is an adult comedy with an R rating for adult themes, nudity, recreational drug use, religious issues, postmortem issues, and the absurdity about death. Remember this is an adult comic opera taken to the extreme. At this funeral the mourners may come with their inhabitation's in check but due to the outlandish antics of many of the other grievous members assembled, all of the gathered, loose all claim to sanity. The audience becomes one with the collected zany members of this grieving group. Since the players on film have lost their inhabitation's so to does the audience. Remember this is an adult, knee slapping, laugh out loud farce. This film is outrageously funny, in an adult vein, not intended for children. If you go to a sporting event, after you have paid for your ticket and bought your seat, people around you cheer, yell, scream and sometimes even in funny costumes as well. A film house is the same communally shared type of experience and environment for entertainment but patrons of the silver screen tend to hold their laughter within, as of being afraid of upsetting the patron in the next seat. Is it not time to unshackle this age old concept and enjoy yourself along with others? I am certain that is the reason why Frank Oz made this film, so the audience could laugh and laugh at themselves. I personally want to thank you Mr. Oz for the laughter and the comedy of Death at a Funeral.