If you like your comedies full of young,
handsome, relatively well-off English people straight out of a Richard
Curtis film, you won't be able to keep away from this one.
If, on the
other hand, you happen to prize originality in your comedy and think
the best laugh is one that comes as a surprise - you might be a little
less impressed.
Not that there's not a lot to admire and enjoy
in this well-constructed and well-acted farce, as a day that should
involve solemn remembrance of a deceased father and husband ends up
with two of the deceased sons trying to hide a corpse in his coffin
while their sister's fiancée jumps around naked on the roof.
By and large most of the jokes are predictable: when the
undertakers bring in a closed coffin at the movie's beginning you just
know there's going to be a wacky mix-up, when it's revealed that one of
the dead man's sons is a secret drug dealer you know someone's going to
accidentally get off their nut, and when a mysterious little person
turns up at the funeral clearly heart-broken over the death you don't
have to be a comedy expert to spot where things are heading.
But
that said, it's this sort of classic farce which has made English
comedy a stalwart in the industry. Where would we be without the
predictable mix ups of Fawlty Towers or Four Weddings And A Funeral?
Competent but predictable: if that's what you want from a comedy, then you'll love this. EXTRAS with Sean Lynch
Considering
this was one of the biggest films at the Australian Box Office last
year (the little film that could took in over $12M during it's run -
almost tripling it's take at the US Box Office) there is surprisingly
not a lot on offer here.
The bloopers are fun, while there are
also two seperate commentaries to choose from. For those in it for
entertainment purposes, the commentary from Frank Oz is you're best bet. Perhaps
a "2 Disc Special Edition" may be released later down the track - we
can only hope - because a few more extras would be the icing on the
cake to one of the most enjoyable English comedies in years.
Conclusion:
Movie 80% Extras: 60%
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