Plots with a View

I just saw Lots with a View as a surprise advance premiere (or: sneak preview) and it was quite funny. Yeah, it was actually a very good movie. I just read another user comment on it that it's hard to deal with the subject of Death in a comedy movie. It indeed is. And I'm still battling with myself over the question if they did a good job.

On one had, it was funny. On the other hand: it comes as a slap in the face for everybody who has (just) lost a loved one. Willie's talk about his mother broke me; a dying wife or grandma may break you. And would Dr. Spock die, no real Star Trek fan would ever be able to watch this movie.

For everybody else: you'll have an exquisite laugh.

Hilarious from start to finish, there's got to be great courage to handle the theme of death with a smile, specially when two funeral parlors are battling for control of the market: a classic parlor and a revolutionary one where every funeral is a show, lead by Christopher Walken, a treat in the role of the visionary american mortitian. But the rest of the cast is great also, and this one is another success that only UK is capable of making. Surprising among the ensemble cast is Naomi Watts, that strikes in another metamorphosis (accent included). Always sporting a smile on its face, it seems like a paradox that there could be so much comedy to be taken from a movie that could be called "Four Funerals and One Wedding", but you'll understand when you see it.

This movie is one of the funniest I have seen in years. A movie which deals with death and funerals without being depressing, or irreverant. Christopher Walken provides much of the comedy in this charming romance and I could hardly breathe for laughing so hard.

I saw the movie a preview, and when it was over, the audience not only applauded, but cheered. I am telling all my friends to watch for it's arrival in the USA. I definitely plan on seeing it again in the theater and purchasing it on DVD as soon as it's available.

I have always been a fan of Britcoms and Nick Hurran's 'Plots With A View' is another hilarious addition to that list. It's sort of a funeral comedy that tells an unusual story of love, competition and revenge. The screenplay is wonderful and the film provides dozens of laugh out loud moments. The locations are refreshing and breathtaking. The cast is exceptional. Robert Pugh, Alfred Molina, Brenda Blethyn, Naomi Watts and Christopher Walken are like never seen before. Pugh is superb as the jerk of a cheating husband. Alfred Molina is the perfect gentleman/mortician. Blethyn beautifully downplays the part of the simple, slightly naive and lovable Betty. Naomi Watts plays the sluttish bimbette secretary and is overdone with makeup and props which makes her stupendously suitable for the part. Both she and Walkens prove their flair for comedy. Walken, well, I do not want to give away much. One just has to watch and see. 'Plots With A View', while being an immensely amusing comedy, pays tribute to ballroom dancing. The dance numbers are well executed. There's one with Walken and Evans and two or three with Molina and Blethyn. All of them performed fantastically. Molina and Blethyn actually prove to be quite good dancers. If one is looking for something to laugh then 'Plots With A View' is definitely the movie to recommend.

Once again seeing this kind of movies turns me more and more into English humor, not too often seen on screen since the days of Monty Python and Man About The House. Too bad.

Brenda Blethyn (Who I first saw in Saving Grace early in the year, another must see by the way.) just excels, as Alfred Molina does. The rest of the cast, while virtually unknown to me, turns on great performances too. The film starts slowly and gradually gains in pace and amusement - midway I had tears in my eyes from laughing.

All in all, a funny English movie, a thousand times better than the supposedly 'funny' garbage that comes from Hollywood.