Death at a Funeral

In the great tradition of British film comedies that introduce outrageous characters into staid, dignified settings, this darkly humorous outing—directed by Frank Oz (Little Shop of Horrors)—is a delightful surprise, abounding with hysterically preposterous situations. At the outset, a coffin is delivered to a stately home, after which the deceased's son Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) discovers a stranger's body inside. That mistake—the first of numerous faux pas—is corrected shortly before the arrival of another son, Robert (Rupert Graves), their cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan), her insecure fiancé Simon (Alan Tudyk), a mystery man named Peter (Peter Dinklage), and various assorted eccentrics. Sibling rivalry rears its ugly head, but that's the least of the problems faced by this bunch. The ensemble cast is uniformly terrific, with Tudyk having the juiciest role as a nervous wreck who accidentally takes a hallucinogenic drug instead of valium and begins to behave outrageously. Death at a Funeral is a black comedy loaded with choice gags that gets off to a funny start and builds steadily to a rib-tickling climax that piles absurdity on absurdity in dizzying succession. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Frank Oz; the other by screenwriter Dean Craig and costars Alan Tudyk and Andy Nyman), an eight-minute gag reel, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a delightful black comedy.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—June 21, 2011—MGM, 91 min., R, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's Death at a Funeral features a decent transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are identical to the standard DVD release, including two audio commentaries (one by director Frank Oz; the other by screenwriter Dean Craig and costars Alan Tudyk and Andy Nyman), a gag reel (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a winning British comedy.]