Folles funérailles

I think you have to gave a twisted sense of humor for this one, or at least not take offense to things easily. I absolutely LOVE this movie! Maybe that is due to having a dysfunctional family myself but I laughed my @$$ off through this whole movie!!

This movie is a hilarious reminder that reality has nothing to do with what we think is true. Brilliant screenplay, exceptional cast, and LOL funny. If you loved "Harold & Maude," "Sideways," and/or "Wilder Napalm," you'll love this one too. Debra Winger continues to be a revelation. Ray Romano - who knew? Hank Azaria, perfect as always. Piper is the real surprise. I don't have anything else to say, but have to write 10 lines in order to get my two cents in. Is this crazy? Shorter and to the point is better. Anyway, whether my remarks get posted or not, this site is one of the very most useful and frequently consulted on our "favorites" list.

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.

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).

Eulogy is centered around the death of a family patriarch, Edmund Collins (Rip Torn). After the death comes the funeral, which is where this story takes place, from the time of his death up until the funeral, where this quite dysfunctional family has to live together for the next few days. An ordinary cast could not have done the job that this one did. They turned what seemed to be a regular movie into a pretty funny movie. I guess it was supposed to be a dark comedy, but it was not all that dark to me. The character development was quite good, for a movie that featured so many key players, it manages to let you get to know just about everyone pretty well.

Kate Collins (Zooey Deschanel) is the granddaughter of Edmund and is asked by her grandmother to deliver the eulogy, something she was hesitant about doing, considering she really knew very little about the man. Despite her constant asking, her family could not come up with any nice stories about her grandfather to tell. Zooey is pretty much the straight (wo)man in this comedy.

Daniel Collins (Hank Azaria) is Edmund's son and Kate's father. Daniel was a child actor whose big fame came when he coined a catch phrase in a peanut butter commercial, making him Edmund's favorite son. He and Skip Collins (Ray Romano) were my favorite characters.

Skip Collins is Edmund's son and Kate's uncle. Skip was the son who was always trying to get his father's attention and felt he was the unloved one because of Daniel's success. He was probably the funniest character in the movie, along with his twin sons and Daniel.

The twin sons of Skip are named Fred and Ted Collins (Curtis and Keith Garcia). They are at that age where pretty much everything turns them on, so when their aunt and her "lifemate" showed up, it was all fun for them.

There are many more characters and dysfunctional family situations here that I could not get to them all in a short review, but this movie turned out better than I would have thought and is worth watching at least once. 7/10