Review of Death at a Funeral (2007) by Chads. — 27 Feb 2008
Dwarf. Gay dwarf. Gay dwarf on acid. Peter Dinkage plays Peter, the gay dwarf on acid in "Death at a Funeral", a Belgian production(hopefully, Hollywood will welcome Grover back after the "Stepford Wives" fiasco; were those "wives" humans or fem-bots?) that is suggestive of a Peter & Bobby Farrelly film on afternoon tea and crumpets.
When Peter is immobilized, so many things could've gone wrong with "Death at a Funeral"; after all, Peter is a gay dwarf. The filmmaker risks angering two sectors of the human politic. But the film deftly averts mean-spiritedness, because Dinkage makes you forget about Peter's sexuality and vertically-challenged stature.
He's flat-out hillarious, as are the rest of this uniformly excellent ensemble. There's no victims in "Death at a Funeral"; we laugh with, not at the sibling rivalry between writerly brothers, the old man with the loose bowels, the insecure boyfriend who's afraid he doesn't measure up to the woman he loves, even the dead dad.
Movie. Irreverent movie. Irreverent movie with heart. "Death at a Funeral" is an irreverent movie with heart; a movie that inspires genuine laughter procured from drollery in which its audience isn't asked to be unfeeling.
"Death at a Funeral" is edgy, but not that edgy.
This review of Death at a Funeral (2007) was written by Chads. on 27 Feb 2008.
Death at a Funeral has generally received positive reviews.
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