Death at a Funeral is a 2007 black comedy film directed by Frank Oz and written by Dean Craig. The film, released in North America on August 17, 2007, stars Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Alan Tudyk and Peter Dinklage. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 449 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (566 × 755 pixel, file size: 65 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ... Frank Oz (born May 25, 1944) is an American film director, actor and puppeteer. ... Hollyoaks Dean Craig (born October 25, 1974) is an English screenwriter and film director. ... Ewen Bremner (b. ... Peter Dinklage (born June 11, 1969) is an American little person actor. ... Matthew Macfadyen Matthew Macfadyen (born 1974) is a British theatre and film actor, best known for his role as MI5 agent Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks. ... Kris Marshall (born Christopher Marshall in April 1973) is an English actor. ... Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... Murray Gold (born 1969, Portsmouth, England) is a British composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 2007 has been referred to, by film and media critics, as the year of the threequels, a nickname referring to both the 2004 summer movie season and several film franchises which premiered or had installments released in 2004, which appear again this year: Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Ocean... This article is about a tone of comedy. ... Frank Oz (born May 25, 1944) is an American film director, actor and puppeteer. ... Hollyoaks Dean Craig (born October 25, 1974) is an English screenwriter and film director. ... North American redirects here. ... is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Matthew Macfadyen Matthew Macfadyen (born 1974) is a British theatre and film actor, best known for his role as MI5 agent Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks. ... Rupert Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English actor. ... Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... Peter Dinklage (born June 11, 1969) is an American little person actor. ...

Plot summary

On the morning of their father's funeral, a dysfunctional family arrive at the funeral of their deceased father, each with his or her own roiling anxieties. Daniel (Matthew Macfadyen) knows he will have to face his famous novelist brother Robert (Rupert Graves) from New York, while attempting to fulfil his promises of a new life to his wife Jane (Keeley Hawes). Matthew Macfadyen Matthew Macfadyen (born 1974) is a British theatre and film actor, best known for his role as MI5 agent Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks. ... Rupert Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English actor. ... Keeley Hawes (born 1 January 1977 in London) is an English actress, best known for her role as Zoe Reynolds in the BBC One drama series Spooks (2002-2004). ...

Meanwhile, Daniel's cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan) and her fiancé Simon (Alan Tudyk) are desperate to make a good impression on Martha's uptight father -- a plan that literally goes out the window when Simon accidentally ingests a designer hallucinogenic drug en route to the service, supplied by Martha's brother Troy, leaving him prone to uncontrollable bouts of delirium and nudity in front of his potential in-laws. Also, a mysterious guest (Peter Dinklage) arrives and threatens to unveil the fact that he was the father's former lover. The two brothers attempt to prevent him from doing so, a plan that goes horrendously wrong, with virtually every attempt at solving the problem leading to another (worse) problem. Before long, total chaos reigns, although the brothers are eventually able to bring the situation under control at the end of the film. Daisy Donovan (born 11 July 1975) is an English television presenter, actress and writer. ... Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... Peter Dinklage (born June 11, 1969) is an American little person actor. ...

Full synopsis

Daniel intends to buy himself and his wife a flat and start a new life. Normally, this would not have been a problem but as his father has died, he is forced to take a large chunk of money from his savings to pay for a funeral.

Meanwhile Troy, a pharmacological student, has mixed up a designer recreational drug (mainly composed of acid), in the form of pills, which he hides in a Valium bottle. Martha gives Simon one of these in the belief that they are Valium. He begins to hallucinate and make comments upon obvious characteristics of things, such as, in a garden: "It's very green here, isn't it?". Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. ... Diazepam, brand names: Valium, Seduxen, in Europe Apozepam, is a 1,4-benzodiazepine derivative, which possesses anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative and skeletal muscle relaxant properties. ...

At the funeral, waiting for Howard to bring Uncle Alfie, Daniel worries about the flat. It turns out he could still have afforded the flat had his brother Robert not flown in first class from New York, as he spent a huge amount of money on a plane ticket and not had enough left to help pay for the funeral. He struggles to write an appropriate eulogy for his father. Daniel also notices Peter, a dwarf. Nobody at the funeral has apparently seen Peter before. Look up eulogy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the medical condition. ...

At the first attempt at a funeral service, Simon is obsessed by the idea that he can hear scratching noises on the inside of the coffin. He tips it over so that the body rolls out at the feet of its former wife, who, along with most of the other guests, burst into tears. Whilst the crisis is being dealt with, Martha drags Simon outside, where her father attempts to forbid her from marrying him. Troy realises Simon is under the effects of one of his pills from the Valium bottle (which he then accidently drops). Simon, now realising what has happened to him, locks himself in the upstairs bathroom and trys (unsuccessfully) to fight the hallucinations, eventually climbing out of the window, naked.

Peter, taking the brothers to the study, tries to blackmail Daniel and Robert by threatening to tell everyone he has had a homosexual relationship with their dead father (he has explicit photographs which prove it). For £15,000, he will destroy the photographs and leave, never again to interfere in the lives of anyone present at the funeral. Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... A photograph (often just called a photo) is an image (or a representation of that on e. ... The symbol £ represents the pound currency which Britain uses. ...

Justin tries to rekindle a one night stand he had with Martha, though she cleary does not return his feelings. Simon sees Justin kiss Martha, though without her permission). Simon then becomes depressed, sits on the roof, and threatens to jump until Martha tells him she is pregnant with his child. One Night Stand is an HBO Stand-up Series that first aired February 15, 1989. ...

Meanwhile, Robert has tackled Peter and Daniel has tied him up with curtain rope. Howard enters the study and gives Peter five pills from the Valium bottle, thinking he is having a seizure. Troy hides Peter behind a sofa as Uncle Alfie comes into the study to use the adjoining toilet, with the help of Howard. Meanwhile Peter becomes hyperactive and jumps repeatedly on the sofa, before falling and smashing a glass coffee table with his head. Unresponsive as he is, the four pronounce him dead and think of ways to get rid of the body, but not before it is spotted by Uncle Alfie.

They try to bury the body with their father in his coffin but fail as he wakes up, knocks on the inside of coffin, manages to open it, and upsets the funeral again, and then dragged out of the room. The compromising photographs fall out of Peter's pocket and Sandra (the deceased's wife) sees them. She then attacks Peter, who is still tied up. Daniel demands everyone stay calm and shouts that his father did certain things that may be looked down upon as immoral but that it is not how or that he did them, it is why that counts; life is complicated and this is reflected in his funeral - thus giving his father the eulogy he was unable to write earlier. After the funeral the brothers are able to put aside their differences.

Uncle Alfie complains about the dead body in the study repeatedly, but nobody pays any attention, presuming that he is becoming senile. Jane says that it is best he stay the night, as she has given him some Valium and put him to bed. At that point, he is sitting naked on the roof, shouting: "Everything's so fucking green!".

Cast

• Matthew Macfadyen - Daniel
• Rupert Graves - Robert
• Peter Dinklage - Peter
• Alan Tudyk - Simon
• Daisy Donovan - Martha
• Peter Vaughan - Uncle Alfie
• Kris Marshall - Troy
• Andy Nyman - Howard
• Jane Asher - Sandra
• Ewen Bremner - Justin
• Keeley Hawes - Jane

Matthew Macfadyen Matthew Macfadyen (born 1974) is a British theatre and film actor, best known for his role as MI5 agent Tom Quinn in the BBC television drama series Spooks. ... Rupert Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English actor. ... Peter Dinklage (born June 11, 1969) is an American little person actor. ... Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... Daisy Donovan (born 11 July 1975) is an English television presenter, actress and writer. ... Peter Vaughan (born April 4, 1923) is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. ... Kris Marshall (born Christopher Marshall in April 1973) is an English actor. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946) is an English film and television actress and the author of several full-length novels as well as a former girlfriend of Paul McCartney. ... Ewen Bremner (b. ... Keeley Hawes (born 1 January 1977 in London) is an English actress, best known for her role as Zoe Reynolds in the BBC One drama series Spooks (2002-2004). ...

External links

• IONCINEMA.com interview with director Frank Oz
• Death at a Funeral at the Internet Movie Database
• Death at a Funeral at Rotten Tomatoes