This movie can be added to another long list of modern day 'cheat films', in which the director has no decent story or plot, but by throwing in a bunch of quirky sub-plots or bizarre characters he/she figures they can fill out an entertaining 90 minutes and keep the audience interested. 'Interstate 60', 'Smokin' Aces', and '11:14' are a few other examples of this kind of cheap-on-ideas film making, and sadly the list of such films is growing at a fairly fast rate. In 'Interstate 60' we had the simple idea of a leprechaun sending a guy down a road that wasn't on any map and didn't exist in our dimension, and once on that road he visited a bunch of crazy towns and people. Great, how brilliant. Did it take 10 minutes to think up that story, or was it 15? In 'Smokin' Aces' we have the word spreading about a hit, and every insane killer in the country races to the spot to be the one to do the job. Throw in some queer-a*se kung foo kid and a bunch of crazy punks that just want to kill and destroy, and you've got the empty spaces of the film filled out. Brilliant. I reckon 5 minutes would have seen the writing of that one. 11:14' saw a bunch of events take place at the same time, and the director said "ok, now I'll make several people in several different places all get tied into these events in some way or another, and lastly I'll chop the story up with scissors and keep the audience guessing. Naturally they'd be guessing. How can you predict a story that's in pieces or going backwards, no matter how simple it is. And so we come to 'Death At A Funeral'. Once again the plot is simple; hang on, THERE ISN'T EVEN A PLOT! A man dies and everyone comes to pay their last respects. Is that a plot? Now let's throw in a mis-labelled jar of acid, a homosexual affair between the deceased and a midget, a rude and immobile old man with loose bowels, a friend of the family who is a complete jerk, a disgruntled father, a 'tripping' boyfriend, and at last we've really got ourselves a story! Sorry, but we haven't. The film is beautifully shot, the actors are all terrific, their superb timing of delivery and the effort they put in is unquestionable, but without a story of any kind, is there really a point?
Review of Death at a Funeral
