"Death At A Funeral"* 1\2 (out of ****)
Comedy has much in common with music. In order for a comedy to work it should have a series of highs and lows, ups and downs. The energy level should fluctuate. "Death At A Funeral" is tone deaf. It has a monotone pace to it which never becomes anything more than somber.
Comedy director Frank Oz, perhaps best known to the world as Miss Piggy, usually has a good eye and ear for comedy. Some of his previous films include the Steve Martin comedy "Bowfiner", "In & Out" and "HouseSitter", also with Martin and Goldie Hawn. I even liked what I felt was an underappreciated comedy, the remake of "The Stepford Wives".
"Death At A Funeral" has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. It keeps attempting to raise the stakes but it is never played out correctly. The risks and dangers of a given situation are not played up. This is why you need highs and lows. Moments when the film moves along briskly and moments when it doesn't.
This has always been a rule in comedy pacing. Think of films such as "Duck Soup" or "The General". While most people may only remember the funny scenes, such as the "mirror" scene or the war sequence or Keaton's stunts. These films had slower, gentler scenes which served as a counter balance to the more outrageous moments.
The film takes place at the funeral of Daniel (Matthew MacFadyen) and Robert's (Rupert Graves) father. Robert is a successful writer now living in New York. Daniel is seen as being jealous of his brother's talent and fame. Daniel is even planned to give a eulogy, even though everyone seems to think it should be Robert, since he is the writer in the family.
Attending this funeral is Simon (Alan Tudyk) with his girlfriend Martha (Daisy Donovan). Martha wants to introduce Simon to her father, Victor (Peter Egan) the deceased brother. We have Peter (Peter Dinklage) who has a secret about the deceased.
Without spoiling anything it turns out Simon accidently takes drugs before arriving to the funeral. Causing him to act very, very strange. Peter's secret involves blackmailing the brothers for 15 thousand pounds. And Martha has a big secret for Simon and her father.
While each new surprised is revealed the film never picks up the pace. Comedy should thrive on chaos. The screenplay partly understands this as it keeps building on this situation of a family getting together at funeral and one mistake after another occuring but it doesn't know how to treat the situations. This hurts the film greatly because events and moments which should have been funny simply aren't. There is a connection to the audience which is missing.
Some moments are truly outrageous. One character finds himself naked standing on the roof of a house while everyone watches. Two bodies are found in a casket, with one of the bodies still alive. And half of the characters get high. All of this should have been funny but is doesn't play out.
Some may want to agrue the humor in "Death At A Funeral" is your typical British humor. I disagree. Watch episodes of "Faulty Towers" or "Are You Being Served?" and you'll see shifts in tone. It is a basic rule of comedy.
"Death At A Funeral" could have been a very funny movie but Frank Oz and the cast just didn't know how to approach the material and how to pace it.
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