L'amour, six pieds sous terre

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.

Only the Brits could make a film like this and have it be so tastefully charming! Betty (Brenda Blethyn) wants something more out of life, but she doesn't know what, when she realizes she is in love with her childhood friend, Boris (Alfred Molina), who owns the local funeral parlor. Meanwhile, an American mortician (Christopher Walken) who "wants to put the 'fun' back in funerals" moves into this small Welsh community with his assistant (Lee Evans) and wants to give Boris a run for his money with flashy, themed funerals. (Star Trek funeral, anyone?) Brenda and Boris decide to stage Brenda's death and funeral, with hilarious results. A very enjoyable film - if you're a fan of British comedies such as "Waking Ned Devine", you'll love this.

Very lovely love story between Brenda Blethyn and Alfred Molina. The whole story is very bizarre and funny. An undertaker (A. Molina) loves a married woman (B.Blethyn). They try to fake her death to escape her husband and the village. A scenario of strange situations starts. As good as SAVING GRACE and LONG LIVE NED DEVINE.

I found this a very enjoyable light hearted comedy set in Wales with some truly funny sequences highlighting the rivalry between two funeral directors. The showbiz ideas used by Christopher Walken's character to liven up his funerals are genuinely laugh out loud moments.

I was privileged to catch a preview of this film and I must say it's terrific. Christopher Walken is hilarious as a progressive U.S. funeral director trying to steal business away from a traditional funeral director (Alfred Molina) in a small Welsh town. Brenda Blethyn (Secrets & Lies, Saving Grace) is equally outstanding playing Molina's object of affection since childhood. She's married to a powerful local councilman, who, unbeknownst to her, cheats on her with his vivacious secretary. Molina's role, however, provides the backbone of the storyline and he does a superb job carrying it through. Ultimately, it's writer Ponzlov's deft intertwining of love and death that bring this comedy to life.

Overall, casting is first-rate, the writing wonderful and the cinematography beautiful. This fun, quirky and sweeet film will rank up there in popularity with features like Four Weddings, Waking Ned Devine and Local Hero to name a few.