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, Peter Dinklage, Ewen Bremner

2 wins & 2 nominations.

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:

funeral | gay | uncle | secret | four word title | 

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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:

7 September 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Muerte en un funeral

Filming Locations:

Poynatts Manor, Skirmett, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€15,223 (Netherlands), 22 July 2007, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,282,973, 19 August 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$8,579,684, 30 December 2007

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

Frank Oz once said that it was impossible to make Peter Vaughan laugh on the set because he was so deeply into the crotchety character of Uncle Alfie. He was the only principal actor to refrain from "corpsing" throughout, thus there was no footage of Peter cracking up to use for the closing credit montage.

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Goofs

If Uncle Alfie was confined to a wheelchair, how did he get onto the roof?

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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 The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Kick-Ass/Death at a Funeral/The Joneses (2010)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Very funny is a gently twisted British way

I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of this, even though I had enjoyed the trailer in the theater. There had been some comments about cruel humor, which I just didn't see. The story was well structured, with groundwork laid early on for very funny bits much later in the film that got us laughing hard without hitting us over the head with the joke. The moments of comic tension were good, without that excruciating sense that someone was going to be horribly embarrassed, or hurt, or whatever, that American films seem to have. The situation is very well known to everyone who's been to a family funeral, although in America we would have the service in a funeral home or church, and we've all had moments when we want to laugh at the wrong time, or notice something a little out of the ordinary in the service that seems to cry out for comment. My husband, 14 year old daughter and I enjoyed the film immensely, and we all gave it an 8 out of 10, with some good carryover lines to quote amongst ourselves. Go see it, enjoy, and leave the political correctness at home.