Death at a Funeral

Daniel's (Matthew Macfadyen of "Pride and Prejudice") father has just passed away and it is the morning of the funeral. He has a lot on his plate. He's trying to get a new home for he and his girlfriend, he's writing a eulogy, and hoping to convince his jet-setting author brother Robert ("V For Vendetta's" Rupert Graves) to put aside his selfish ways and take care of their mother for awhile. On top of all this the wrong body has just arrived for the service. "We'll go back and get the right one," the man from the funeral home promises.
Other mourners on their way to the funeral include Martha (Daisy Donovan of "Millions") and her nervous boyfriend Simon ("Firefly's" Alan Tudyk). While making a brief stop to pick up her brother Troy("Love Actually's" Kris Marshall), Martha grabs Simon a valium, or so she thinks. There's also Howard (Andy Nyman) and Justin (Ewen Bremner, Spud from "Trainspotting"), bringing along the wheel-chair bound Uncle Alfie (Peter Vaughan). Once there no one seems to recognize the dwarf in the corner (Peter Dinklage, "The Station Agent" and "Elf"). It turns out that the dwarf's name is Peter and he has photos proving that he and the deceased were more than just good friends. Unless Daniel pays him 15,000 pounds, he's going to go blabbing to everyone in attendance.
"Death at a Funeral" is an old-fashioned British farce, where the comedy is dark and characters run from room to room, hoping that no one else will figure out what's really going on. It's a little slow going at first. Not in the pacing but the comedy itself doesn't quite connect in the first act. Some moments work but the film never really finds its stride until everyone has arrived and then boy does it. First the accidental acid Simon took kicks in (Tudyk, as always, is brilliant) and things just go from bad to worse for everybody. Writer Dean Craig and director Frank Oz ("What About Bob," "Bowfinger," also the man behind Yoda and Miss Piggy) perform the comedy juggling act very well for the final two-thirds of the film. Macfadyen gives a great performance as the straight man, trying to keep things together to little avail and Dinklage and Marshall are both very funny as well. While not everything clicks in "Death at a Funeral" more than enough of it does to make this a very worthwhile film. There is some brutally funny dark comedy here which is always welcome. Just make it through the first half hour and you will be rewarded with a fun afternoon at a funeral. 7.5/10.