Magpie Funeral (2023) User Reviews

Tugs at your heartstrings

[Film_Shark · 9/10 · 4 August 2023]

The Magpie is a bird known to hold funeral-like gatherings for their deceased friends. Is this a sign of grief? Bird experts certainly thinks so. Director Gregory James Green's latest film, 'Magpie Funeral' explores grief, loss, and hope. Coping with loss is painful and never easy. This heartfelt drama deals with how to find purpose in one's life after experiencing a tragic event. It is a story we can all relate to. It's about finding human connection. 'Magpie Funeral' will tug at your heartstrings and not let you go until the closing credits. Put this indie gem on your must-see list.

Sy McMurphy (Darren Burrows) is an aspiring screenwriter. He gets one rejection letter after another from Hollywood agencies. To make ends meet, he works as a director for a local TV station. His boss Randy (David Weisenberg) has a personal vendetta against him and takes satisfaction from Sy's failures. Sy is also a bird lover that always seems to give him solace at the right time. When tragedy strikes, Sy is faced with a painful journey. One day he has a chance encounter with Nancy (Meredith Shank) and her precocious daughter, Lisa (Elizabeth Leach). Since they are all dealing with loss, this new friendship is a welcome gift into Sy's life.

The cast is first-rate. Notably the protagonist Sy played by Darren Burrows. He is best known for his role on the 90s hit TV show, Northern Exposure. Green reflects, "Darren brought a depth to Sy that I was not expecting. He blew me away. Every scene was expertly nuanced." Another praiseworthy mention goes to the actor that plays Sy's nemesis, Randy. David Weisenberg's portrayal of that guy in our lives that tries to kill our dreams is spot-on. One of the standout performances goes to Meredith Shank as Nancy. She embodies the feelings of grief and loss. Her daughter Lisa played by the delightful Elizabeth Leach delivers an endearing performance on how kids deal with loss differently than adults. The chemistry between Sy, Nancy and Lisa build this incredible connection that helps them get through this painful episode in their lives.

The film was shot in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and the Boise area where the filmmaker calls home. One of the key locations of the story takes place in a cemetery. You might think that it is a strange place for some of the scenes. It makes perfect sense. Remember the magpies and how they surround their departed friend? One magpie will fly away and return with pine needles to lay around the body. Once they pay their last respects, each one takes its turn flying away. It's a powerful metaphor throughout the film.

'Magpie Funeral' is about overcoming loss and pursuing your dreams. It is okay if you don't achieve that precise goal. The key takeaway is enjoying the journey along the way. Green is achieving his goal with 'Magpie Funeral.'

Coming to peace with transitions

[rpcckspm · 9/10 · 30 September 2023]

I did enjoy the movie, It left me smiling inside. I realize it has been a long time since I've written anything like a review, but is was nice to have a movie theme of "coming to peace with transitions" (including death) instead of "man against man" (or woman). I loved the opening scene that totally shifted from Sy's inner drama to his real world which we watched literally come crashing down.

I liked Sy as a person, and Lisa was an amazing delightful little actress. I very much liked the birds and their songs. They were equally stars in the movie. I enjoyed the anachronisms like the the portable typewriter, the answering machine, and the old phonograph.

I have tried to imagine all that goes into creating a movie like this. What an outstanding accomplishment.

An indie gem

[beckynicolaides · 10/10 · 1 August 2023]

Magpie Funeral is a little gem of a film. It's the story of a man who loses his close friend in a car accident. He meets a young widow, and her daughter at the cemetery, and they develop a close, if unlikely friendship. When a misunderstanding unfolds around a project she's been working on, their friendship is put to the test.

Although death and loss are a big part of the story, Magpie Funeral is a funny, touching film -- never a downer. It has great performances by Darren Burrows and Meredith Shank as the lead characters, and Elizabeth Leach does a wonderful turn as the daughter.

Other standouts include David Weisenberg who plays an obnoxious boss and Mario DiDonato plays a very funny literary agent.

This is a wonderful indie movie, with a heart.

Excellent Film

[techlowr · 10/10 · 2 August 2023]

I thought the characters brought the film story together beautifully. The start of the film confused me a little, but it didn't take long for it all to come together. The actors were great and the production and script held my attention. Darren Burrows and Meredith Shank had very believable performances. For being so young, Elizabeth Leach did a great job acting. I recognized the actress Katherine Norland from the DharMann videos! David Weisenberg played the man you love to hate. The film was filmed and edited well. The scenery was spectacular! A film I would recommend and watch again and again.

Beautifully Written Story

[ntuckerking · 10/10 · 14 October 2023]

I absolutely loved this movie so much that I watched it twice. Wonderful and beautifully written story that inspires each and every one of us to follow our dreams. The movie starts out a little bit slow but builds up considerably leaving you with the that endearing sense of hope within all of us about life itself and the journey along the way.

Spectacular cast and the combination of artistic talent and passion will leave you with a feeling of joy and wonder. Darren Burrows delivers an amazing performance and the writing is outstanding and very original. Would love to see more movies like this.

I wish I could say more about the movie without giving anything away but you will be happy after seeing it.

Ten stars and a must see !

A joy to watch this film!

[john_berndt · 10/10 · 18 September 2023]

Magpie Funeral draws you in with appealing characters who grapple with life and death issues, yet the tone of the film is far from maudlin. A study in the power of friendship and perseverance, the three lead actors, Darren Burrows, Meredith Shank, and Elizabeth Leach give stellar performances. It is heartwarming to see Darren Burrows who portrays the main character of Sy so well, and keep an eye on young Elizabeth Leach, who stole my heart. The soundtrack is particularly moving, and the cinematography is very creative. This film is thought provoking and at times humorous and a great choice for family entertainment!

Magpie Funeral is a must watch!

[hepolamark · 10/10 · 24 October 2023]

I greatly enjoyed Magpie Funeral. I love movies about ordinary people, going about their lives and being presented with situations along the way. I enjoy seeing how they handle those issues. I felt that the dialogue was well written and genuinely reflected real human emotion believably. I love happy endings and Magpie Funeral has that too! There's also a cute little girl, the antagonist boss and great acting by all the principals. I hadn't seen Darren E Burrows in anything since Northern Exposure. He still has the chops and boy, does he look like his father. I especially loved the imagery of all the bird sequences and especially the funeral itself. How did they capture that? Greg Green has hit a home run with this film!

Excellent Movie! Would Watch Again!

[jodythang · 10/10 · 26 September 2023]

Saw this movie in Boise last month and what a beautiful story. A breath of fresh air. What a meaningful story! If you've lost anyone close to you then you know what this feels like...There is love, spark, humor and giddiness which is why I call this a breath of fresh air. Excellent job! Actors were great and Greg Green is awesome! Don't miss this Indie Film. Greg Green doesn't disappoint. If you want to see another movie of his "Three of a Kind" is also a good one. Lots of twists in this one. There is suspense, drama and an awesome story as well. These Directors and Actors deserve recognition as there hard work some times can never be measured!

A Powerful Must See Story

[carolvhanley · 10/10 · 12 October 2023]

I went to see Magpie Funeral with little if any expectations and was both pleasantly surprised and blown away by the movie. Greg Green, the writer and director, has written a powerful story that will remain with you long after you leave the theater. Go and see this movie. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. You are in for a treat if you do!

Without giving too much away, one of the main characters in the movie is Darren Burrows, who you will recognize from the television show Northern Exposure. He plays a character who loses his friend in a car accident, but despite the subject matter, Green has managed to write a humorous, heartfelt, and touching movie.

A good part of the movie takes place in a cemetery where Burrows meets the other lead character in the movie played by Meredith Shank. Together with Burrows, she gives an outstanding performance. Although I didn't recognize the young girl who plays her daughter, I was impressed by her performance and know I will be seeing more of her in the future.

I would suggest that If you don't know what a Magpie Funeral is, you might want to look it up before going to see the movie. But whatever you do, go see the movie!

Lovely Indie magic

[erikrhagen · 10/10 · 14 September 2023]

As an artist, I could relate to the Darren Burroughs character,Sy.

Sy spends his early and mid-adulthood pursuing his dream of screenwriting, only to see everything that he writes rejected. But he doesn't give up. He continues to pursue his dream even while working really awful jobs and abusive conditions. The character's grit and cheerful perseverance is inspiring. The movie was oddly emotional for me, I think, because, as an artist, I could relate to the years - long struggles of getting ones were out there.

Darren Burroughs is wonderful. He brought a nuance to the role of Sy that was so believable.

I enjoyed the comedic interludes and flirtations with science-fiction. The themes of death, love, and perseverance in the face of adversity are beautifully rendered, and we are left finding redemption through the balm of personal connection.

Most enjoyable of all were the references to birds, and especially seeing an actual Magpie funeral. I doubt that's ever been achieved in film before, and it involves a ritualistic honoring of the dead by Magpies. Super cool to see it captured on film.

Remarkable & Wholesome

[Sean-35945 · 10/10 · 10 September 2023]

Magpie Funeral was a pleasure to watch. From the opening scene to the final scene, it captivated my attention and gave me many reasons to smile. It tells the story of the creation of a story, how that story can be adapted into multiple mediums, and how the entire process integrates with life's ups, downs, and challenges. This is a story about love, loss, hope, creative drive, and achieving your dreams. If you're looking for something heartwarming, please give Magpie Funeral a watch.

Sy, our main protagonist, a creative TV news professional, is submitting screenplays, typed using a typewriter, to prestigious film agencies while also suffering from a bad case of writer's block when trying to write new scripts. The writer's block is showcased in a very creative, meta, and hilarious way in the opening scene. Very early on in the film, Sy is burdened with the death of a loved one. In the cemetery, Sy meets Nancy and her daughter Lisa, who are also grieving the recent loss of a loved one. They make a connection when looking at birds, and Sy mentions that magpies have funerals. That tidbit of knowledge becomes inspirational to Nancy, who is also a creative writer. What else do Sy and Nancy have in common? If you're intrigued, I'd highly recommend this film, but I don't want to spoil any plot details that happen beyond the first act of the movie.

From this film I learned that magpies do indeed have funerals. As an animal lover, I always love learning about the beautiful intricacies of animals and how their emotions and rituals are more humanlike than commonly thought. The graveyard scenes with the closeups of birds, dialog between Sy and Nancy, cheerful lighting, and perfectly cued emotional music gave me chills. After learning from Sy what a magpie funeral consists of, I noticed that in the previous scene, which was of the interment portion of a human funeral, the recessional played out exactly how a magpie funeral would also conclude. This is the kind of detail that I can tell is a deliberate choice by the filmmaker, and I relished in the joy of making this metaphorical connection since it dovetails so well with the film's themes and messages.

Beyond the above-mentioned characters, there are quite a few zany people in Magpie Funeral. From Sy's bitterly antagonistic boss/landlord, Nancy's gruff and brash agent, and a wacky lady who plays an even wackier pirate character on Sy's ultra cheesy TV show at his news channel, there's a vast variety. The character performances are well portrayed without being too silly. I recognized two actors in this movie, including Jodi Russell, who I've seen in a couple of other films.

My critiques are quite minor, and don't detract from the enjoyment of the movie. Some visuals were obviously done in post-production, such as engraved letters on a tombstone. I have done some film production and editing myself, so I notice things like that, but realistically I wouldn't think that most viewers would be cognizant of something like that. When a character gets pooped on by a bird, the poop is a bit too thick to be believable and plays an exaggerated sound effect that would feel less out of place if this were an animated movie. The bird poop scene still gave me a good laugh though. Other than those small gripes, I can't really think of anything that wasn't stellar in Magpie Funeral. It truly is a labor of love.

As a movie that's largely about the creation of movies, during and after my viewing of Magpie Funeral, I thought about the relevancy of this film being released in 2023. We're currently in the midst of a seemingly never-ending writer and actor strike in the film and TV industries. The reasons behind the strike are intertwined with both financial uncertainties and creative turmoil as artificial intelligence gets more and more advanced and changes how the entire world functions. Magpie Funeral is proof that AI is nowhere near being remotely close to taking over the jobs of screenwriters, directors, actors, and other important film professionals. This movie was obviously written by a human with a heartbeat, and not an AI platform. A film like this could only be created by a group of humans. If you give it a viewing, you'll see what I mean. This film is inherently human just like how a funeral is inherently magpie.

A Terrific Movie!

[brownlea-36519 · 10/10 · 2 August 2023]

Magpie Funeral is hands down the best new movie I have seen this year. It has it all: failure and success, angst and love, rudeness and respect, sadness and humor. The acting was top notch, with Darren Burrows and Meredith Shank doing great performances. The actress who played the little girl won my heart. Gregory Green put together an A+ effort, coming off his award winning job on Three of a Kind. You can certainly see that Greg Green loves what he is doing. Applause Applause! The film was edited seamlessly. If I were to recommend just one movie for a person to see this year, it would be Magpie Funeral.

A Breath of Fresh Air

[digiosialeo · 10/10 · 7 August 2023]

Magpie Funeral is a touching indie film guaranteed to warm the hearts of its viewers. A story about youth, life, friendship, heartbreak, and success is carefully blended into a heartstring-tugging story, told with a healthy dose of comedy woven in. The motif of the film is incorporated perfectly into the story.

If anything, the quirky and relatable characters make the film worth the watch. The dramatic foils between the personas are written as beautifully as a Shakespeare play!

Finally, my favorite part of the movie is its hesitance and avoidance to rely on overdone tropes that we see all too often in blockbusters: corny love stories and tired predictable action scenes are not to be found in Magpie Funeral. A breath of fresh air!

Great Indie Cinema

[elliot-81538 · 10/10 · 27 September 2023]

A moving film based on an absolutely genius metaphor, Magpie Funeral is funny, touching, insightful, and filled with nuanced performances.

I saw it on a whim during its theatrical run. The movie was playing at a theater where you could order beer, and I figured there could be worse ways to spend a Sunday night. In short, I wasn't expecting a great movie. I just wanted a dark place to sip alcohol and lament a fight I had had with a loved one.

The fact the movie gobsmacked me came as a surprise - almost in an academic sense. "Wow, I'm really responding to this," I thought around halfway through. The story's subtext (about every human's innate self-worth and how we should all come to peace with life's transitions) kept hitting me in new and unexpected ways. It was a visceral reaction that overwhelmed my ability for analysis.

I can't recommend this movie enough.