Nach dem Tod ist vor dem Erbe

When the patriarch of a dysfunctional family dies, his sons and daughters travel with their families to the funeral. While they stay in the house of the matriarch waiting for the funeral and the testament, secrets are exposed and wounds are opened in the relationships of the members.

Watching "Eulogy" for the second time, I found it a funny dark comedy. The humor is not easy, but the great cast has good performance and there are many cynical situations. The Brazilian title misleads the viewer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil) : "Um Funeral Muito Louco" ("A Very Crazy Funeral")

Lately I have not seen many films at all that I really like or can honestly recommend. Then, as if from nowhere, my friend saw Eulogy on the stand at a movie rental place and said it sounded good. As soon as the rented DVD was in my DVD player and on the main menu it was hilarious! It's not usual that I have such an optimistic approach to movies before I even see them, so I knew I was in for something good. During the movie there were several parts where we laughed so hard that we continuously had to rewind and catch up on parts that we laughed through. It's cynical, tongue-in-cheek, and good-natured. It has the sense of humor and attitude that real people have, and that's what's great about it. One thing that's rare in movies is something real. When you watch the movie you get the feel that you're dealing with real people, which is why this film is so easy to enjoy. It's like watching real people in hilarious situations. I've now recommended this film to dozens of people. Yes, Eulogy is an automatic favorite.

Just barely watchable, a few jokes were good. If you have nothing better to do on a weekend this is a good way to spend a couple of hours. If you miss Ray Ramano, this is for you. Most of the sibling situations are cliche. It's OKK.

I was up very late last night and I thought I would watch half this movie before sleeping and the other half today. But, I was laughing so much during the whole 90 minutes that I wasn't even much aware of how much time went by. It's been ages since my jaw ached from watching a movie. 'Eulogy' is one of the funniest films. There have been numerous movies about dysfunctional families but what makes this one different is the unique characters, the novel jokes, the excellent ensemble cast, a fresh script and it's genuine fun.

Michael Clancy's direction and screenplay are quite amusing. It would have been very easy to mess up a film like this one by adhering to clichés but Clancy's novel treatment makes it a refreshing experience. Where else will you hear lines like 'You don't throw a lemon at me in front of a lesbian' or 'She has made a business out of persecuting me and I'm supposed to sit here, at my father's funeral, and watch her *beep*-sing at Samantha?'? Alright, they sound a lot better withing the context of the movie.

All the actors do a remarkable job and terrifically fit together as a messed up family that includes a dead father (the skilled Rip Torn), a suicidal mother (a sublime Piper Laurie), a chronically angry daughter (welcome back Debra Winger) and her husband , a hormonal son (the hilarious Ray Romano), a sassy daughter and her no-nonsense fiancée (played brilliantly by Kelly Preston and Famke Janssen), a pot-smoking son (a superb Hank Azaria), his questioning daughter (a luminous Zooey Deschanel who marvelously carries the film), her twin perverted cousins and their three selectively mute younger cousins. To support the family there's a sensual nurse (a fiery Glenne Headly) and a guy from the neighborhood (a charismatic Jesse Bradford). Quite a magnificent ensemble!

The entire comedy elements are very well displayed. At times it is wacky and at times subtle but it all goes well together and remains enjoyable and wildly charming from start to end. With movies like this, who needs laughing gas?

If Hollywood stopped making films about dysfunctional families there'd be a real drought in the theaters and on DVD shelves. "Eulogy" is a pretty conventional tale but it's well-acted.

The paterfamilias, grandfather, is dead, apparently by his own hand, and the family - immediate and extended - arrives at the grieving widow's home to prepare for the funeral immediately resuming hostilities over well-aged feuds and hurts. Nothing surprising here.

Zooey Deschanel as Kate is a college student who seems to be the most normal member of an eclectic and eccentric crew. Her grandmother is Piper Laurie and, have no fear, those who remember the beautiful young actress of an earlier Silver Screen age won't recognize her here. How the mighty have...aged.

Hank Azaria has a fun(ny) role as a loser with a heart.

Deborah Winger turns in a first-rate performance as Kate's shrewish Aunt Alice who exudes homophobia at a sister who arrives with her fiancé (or fiancée), a sharp, observant woman. Alice, is married to a drone who without barely a word smiles ceaselessly and seems on the verge of drooling.

Their three kids are also silent, probably disturbed big time. And two nasty pre-teen twins of Alice's brother make Dennis the Menace a choir boy by comparison.

No character here that hasn't been seen in many movies and TV sitcoms. But there's a thread of drama with the zany comedy that makes "Eulogy" a mite different if whacked out family stories intrigue you.

It's an ensemble production - see the IMDb.com main page for the full cast. But Ms. Deschanel, with her dark eyes and sharp takes at her family members' antics, is the acting center of the flick.

8/10 (barely but I laughed a lot).