Death at a Funeral
The plot is set up as characters dash about, preparing to attend a funeral. Haven’t we seen this, or something strikingly similar, before?
Think Four Weddings And A Funeral, and you’ll get a fair idea of what this film is, or tries to be.
The funeral is ostensibly a vehicle for playing out a number of sub-plots in which the characters are involved. There’s the woman whose snobbish father eschews her choice of soulmate; the sibling rivalry between a successful author and his not-so-successful, aspiring author brother, and a couple showing evidence of domestic discontent.
Then there’s a guest (Peter Dinklage) whose association with the deceased is unknown, but will, during the course of the day, become clearer (if you haven’t worked it out already), and problematic.
To cut to the chase: it simply isn’t funny, doesn’t even approach the point of poignancy, and the characters are so one-dimensional, that it’s difficult to get to know them, much less care about them.
Worst of all, perhaps is the disappointment of seeing Dinklage, whose dour and deadpan delivery in The Station Agent was so effective, flailing about in this cringe-inspiring comical attempt.
This viewer was at a loss to understand the film’s box-office success. Death At A Funeral traipses its way predictably down a well-worn path that has been trodden in much fancier shoes, and with a much more stylish gait.