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Death at a Funeral is a 2007 British Black Comedy film directed by Frank Oz.
A family tries to give an appropriate funeral for its late patriarch. Cue epic sibling rivalry, accidental acid tripping, dwarf secret gay lovers, nudity, blackmail and caskets being knocked over.
In what must be something of a record for an English language movie, an American remake starring Chris Rock was released just three years later in 2010, which kept the overall tone of a black comedy... but not in that way!
The original film contains examples of:[]
- Big Screwed-Up Family
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: It's no coincidence that Martha ends up announcing her pregnancy during the funeral.
- Blackmail
- Blatant Lies: No one actually dies at the funeral.
- Bound and Gagged: Daniel and Robert tie Peter up when he threatens to tell everyone about his affair with their father.
- Bury Your Gays: Played with, then averted.
- Butt Monkey: Daniel, especially when compared to his brother Robert.
- Cringe Comedy
- Dead Man's Chest
- Enforced Method Acting: According to Frank Oz's commentary, all of the gay sex photographs used in the film are of actual gay pornography, to elicit a more realistic reaction.
- Fake Brit: Texan native Alan Tudyk (Simon) plays a very convincing English guy.
- Family Disunion
- Fawlty Towers Plot
- The Fun in Funeral
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Be careful not to take hallucinogens while operating heavy machinery.
- Mushroom Samba: Leads to naked roof climbing. Twice.
- Naked People Are Funny: Simon climbing the roof naked. Uncle Alfie sitting naked on the roof at the end of the film. Even the poster is an example of this trope!
- Nobody Over 50 Is Gay: Averted.
- Not Quite Dead: Peter
- Queer People Are Funny
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Uncle Alfie curses, hits family members with his cane, orders people around, and bluntly says what's on his mind simply because he's old.
- Sibling Rivalry: Between Daniel, The Unfavorite of nearly everyone in the family, and Robert, whom everyone loves because of his successful writing career.
- Stalker with a Crush: Justin is this towards Martha, so much so he's a borderline male Abhorrent Admirer. Justin constantly follows Martha around and hits on her no matter how many times she tells him she's in love with Simon. Justin immediately loses interest after finding out Martha is pregnant.
The American remake contains examples of:[]
- Actor Allusion: "I'm too old for this shit."
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Most of the people in the original are mostly fairly normal looking or somewhat attractive. The American film includes the likes of Zoe Saldana and James Marsden.
- Amazing Freaking Grace: James Marsden bursts into song while tripping.
- Ascended Extra: The lead character's wife (Keeley Hawes in the original and Regina Hall in the remake) gets a somewhat bigger role and a subplot about trying to get pregnant.
- Discriminate and Switch
- Foreign Remake: Made... three years after the first one's theatrical release in America.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Deliberate; casting Peter Dinklage to play the same character in the remake that he did in the original.
- Jittercam
- Race Lift: The entire cast with the exception of Frank/Peter (who had the same actor), Simon/Oscar and Justin/Derek.
- Which allowed for this bit of dialogue:
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Aaron: Our father was having gay sex with a guy who could fit in his pocket... and you're mad 'cause he's white? |
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- The original contained a similar line, but the sticking point was that he was American, not white.
- She's All Grown Up: Ryan says this when he sees that a family friend has grown from a girl to a voluptuous young woman.