Review of Undertaking Betty (2002) by Sheila W — 06 Jun 2007

Undertaking Betty is a movie that I almost neglected to watch but after making it past the first 20 minutes, I become committed to this great storyline that is very Shakespearean.

The movie begins with the history of the primary characters: Betty, Boris Platz, and Betty's husband, Councilor Rhs-Jones.

From there, this triangle is reintroduced all because of chance, Betty's mother-in-law dying because of choking on cereal.

During funeral arrangements, Betty reunites with Boris Platz and they still realize that after so many years, they both still are attracted to one another. The only problem is that Betty is married. Meanwhile, Betty's husband is having a lusty affair with the sexy Naomi Watts.

Boris, realizing Betty's unhappiness in marriage offers her the chance to runaway with him. But Betty, although desperately wanting this, refuses on the principle of "for better or for worse until death do us part" marriage.

At this point, we are introduced to this welsh town's other funeral home director, Platz's competitor, Frank Featherbed(Christopher Walken), with his assistant Delbert(Lee Evans--something about mary, mouse hunt).

I'm writing a horrible review here, but will just say that the comedy is wonderfully written. Because there are an array of plots, it leads to several well developed characters and subplots.

I found Naomi Watts to be hilariously sexy; Christopher Walken teamed up superbly with Lee Evans as the sidekicks; and if you are patient, you will enjoy this excellent story.