While trying so hard to have such a good time, the movie simply forgets to be funny, and begins to grate before the body even cools.
Comment
08/17/07
Death at a Funeral (2007)
63
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:119
Fresh:75
Rotten:44
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Death At A Funeral is a rousing British farce, with enough slapstick silliness to overcome its faults.
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $8,440,710
Synopsis: A dignified send-off for a loved one erupts into uproarious chaos when romance, jealousy, in-laws, hallucinogens, dark secrets, life-long yearnings and a spot of bold blackmail all collide in the... [More]
Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Rupert Graves, Peter Dinklage, Alan Tudyk
Director: Frank Oz
Reviews for Death at a Funeral
A refreshingly small, self-contained low-budget comedy in which Dean Craig's clever script is the primary attraction and scene-stealer Peter Dinklage is the biggest star.
08/17/07
Insanely funny, if occasionally out-of-control, black farce.
08/17/07
A heartless film in which dozens of selfish people don't care at all about the dead guy, which allows us to laugh instead of, you know, grieving.
08/17/07
Screenwriter Dean Craign exhibits a real feel for the way that a crisis brings out age-old hostilities. Craig uses humor as a cover-up to say something about the way families pull apart as well as together at difficult times.
08/17/07
As dumb and redundant as its wink-wink title. Devoid of the charm and wit that's become the hallmark of so many British ensemble comedies, it feels more like some frantic, door-slamming stage farce than an actual movie.
08/17/07
Sporadically funny, but for the most part, Death is just thoroughly modest.
08/17/07
It takes a while for Frank Oz's ensemble black comedy Death at a Funeral to hit its deliriously nutty stride. But when it does, the laughs don't stop until the movie, like the subject of its family get-together, has taken its last breath.
08/17/07
Even at a brisk 90 minutes, though, the show begins to feel like a memorial that has dragged on too long. Comedy plus bad timing equals disappointment.
08/17/07
Struggles valiantly to be funny but is mostly dead on arrival.
08/17/07
Death builds slowly and inexorably to a comic explosion that's just too good -- too insanely, impossibly mortifying -- to spoil here.
08/17/07
Frank Oz does some of his best work ever helping the actors get the most out of barbed throwaways.
08/17/07
A fast, furious and riotously funny british farce in the tradition of Monty Python and Peter Sellers.
08/17/07
Death at a Funeral stands apart from other movies with rude humor because its characters are determined to keep a stiff upper lip no matter what.
08/17/07
Top CriticDeath at a Funeral finds its comedy in the peculiar human trait of being most tempted to laugh when we're absolutely not supposed to.
08/17/07
Top CriticI'm just thrilled Oz is recharging his directorial mojo, making a funny movie that contains some actual funny
08/16/07
A slow burn that snowballs into a rip-roaring and veddy British climax. Very enjoyable! Please read review.
08/16/07
Set among the perpetually polite and embarrassed British, the film is at least tolerable.
08/16/07
A fine example of how much tone and execution affect low humor.
08/16/07
'Wrong' is the operative word with Death at a Funeral, which in the first very funny 30 minutes shows its hand and then, unfortunately, continues to wave that hand frantically for the next hour.
08/16/07
Top CriticLatest News for Death at a Funeral
March 08, 2009:
Morgan and Lawrence Attend Rock's Death at a Funeral 
Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence have signed up for Neil LaBute's "Death at a Funeral" remake, joining Chris Rock in the cast. More...
November 10, 2008:
Chris Rock Causes Another Death at a Funeral
Chris Rock has agreed to co-write and star in a remake of last year's Frank Oz-directed British comedy "Death at a Funeral." More...
August 16, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Superbad is Certified Fresh; The Invasion Crash-Lands
This week at the movies, we've got some McLovin (Superbad, starring Michael Cera and Jonah Hill), pod people (The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig), and... More...
May 10, 2007:
Weinsteins & Lionsgate Snag Michael Moore's "Sicko"
The Brothers Weinstein and Lionsgate Films have teamed up to deliver Michael Moore's expose on the U.S. health care system on June 29th. More...
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