Death at a Funeral

"Death at a Funeral" (Frank Oz, 2007) I grabbed "Death at a Funeral" because, even though he may not choose the best of projects, Oz is a good craftsman who can eke out laughs from fairly flimsy material. And it featured two of my current favorite character actors, Peter Dinklage and Alan Tudyk. Neither one disappoints with (eventually) broad strokes of antic genius. Nor can one be disappointed by Matthew Mcfadyen (the glum Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's "Pride and Prejudice"), who shoulders the burden of the lead role (as the oldest son who is hosting a service for his late father), as well as Rupert Graves as the ex-patriate brother/successful novelist that brother Daniel admires and envies.*

But it's a funeral, and so complications arise.** There's the powerful psychedelic in the valium bottle, the needy one-night stand who shows up to try and re-connect, the germ-a-phobe, the immobile old guy in the wheelchair, the vicar with other duties to attend to, the family jealousies and petulant arguments, and the stranger in the leather jacket...with the photographs. Just jotting off that checklist will set in mind all sorts of mischievous complications, and they're all there waiting to be uncorked in a room of stiff upper lips and trembling lower ones. If hilarity doesn't ensue, you can at least count on "inappropriate behavior."

Ultimately, it all turns out well for nearly everyone (except, of course, the corpse) and just as old wounds are ripped open, they're also neatly zippered up in the end. It's a pleasant little film that gets there through a lot of sick humor. What more could you want from a funeral?
* Gamers will wonder why Keeley Hawes sounds so familiar—she's the voice of "Lara Croft: Tomb-Raider" on video games.

** Having been to (and host of) a couple of funerals, I wonder why no one ever has done anything with the odd phenomenon of the reactions of a deceased's family (who have had mourning time) to seeing so many old friends (who have not), and those friends' shocked reaction to the bereaved's happy tone at seeing so many familiar, downcast faces. It is a funeral, after all.

Find Me Guilty

"Find Me Guilty" (Sidney Lumet, 2006) Throughout his career, Sidney Lumet has been attracted to stories where the everyday world spins out of control, and the common rules of conduct and society fly right out with the centrifugal force of it, when the machine of Society breaks and goes off the rails. The times he excels in his portrayal is when he sticks to the story, and makes less pictorial comment on it.

Which is why "Find Me Guilty" is one of his better films. The true story of the longest criminal case in U.S. judicial history--the RICO trial of 20 New York mobsters in the New Jersey wing of the Lucchese family as part of Rudy Giuliani's "clean sweep"--is a fascinating condensation of the trial and the circumstances surrounding it. Using the real transcripts of the trial, Lumet (who co-wrote the screenplay) is able to pick and choose dramatic highlights to make a consistently interesting film out of procedure (a Lumet specialty--he may have spent more days in court than most mobsters!), and point out a basic flaw in the prosecuter's case: you put the same strangers together in the same room for almost two years, and some bonding will happen.* In that way, it's not unlike making a film.

The other interesting aspect to it is a fine cast: the wonderful Peter Dinklage as a defense attorney who may be the smartest man in the room, Ron Silver as the judge, Linus Roache as the reptilian chief prosecuter--he's going to be fun to watch, and Annabella Sciorra as, briefly, the wife of the monkey-wrench that derails the trial.

It is frequently thrilling to watch a film and realize your preconceptions about a performer are wrong. In "Find Me Guilty," Vin Diesel puts on a show that's great fun to watch, throwing interesting spins on all sorts of situations. He plays Jackie DiNorscio who starts out the film shot by his cousin, then indicted and sentenced to a 30 year stretch in the pen...and then, put on trial as part of the Lucchese proceeding. With nothing to lose, and acting as his own defense attorney, DiNorscio emerges as the human face of the Mafia, and Diesel has a field day maximizing the comedy and squeezing the emotion out of every situation. It's a truly great performance.

...that no one saw. "Find Me Guilty" bombed at the box-office, no doubt due to the subject matter, and the public distaste out of glamorizing the Mob.

Or everybody was at home watching "The Sopranos."

* A lot of bonding will happen. One of the defendants later admitted that the jury had been rigged. Given all the time the trial was in session, how couldn't it be?

Underdog

"Underdog" (Frederik Du Chau, 2007) Cute little adaptation of the humorous (which is the polite word when something is not funny) cartoon show of the 60's that featured Wally Cox as the anthropomorphic pooch, "Shoeshine Boy," who becomes the crusading canine of courage whenever Society is threatened by the Forces of Evil--personified by the mad scientist Simon Bar Sinister. "Underdog" was limited animation of the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" codec, and one would have mistaken "U-dog" as a Jay Ward Production if it managed to produce a chuckle or two.

As it is the film struggles mightily to work as a live action quickie--the effects work starting with "Babe" and continuing on with every talking animal movie since probably convinced the producers to not go the expensive CGI animation route. Plus, they'd miss another opportunity to star Jim Belushi in another movie. I kid, but actually...okay, I don't like Jim Belushi. But casting is not the film's problem. As the designated audience surrogate Alex Neuberger isn't all that bed--he does have to play most of his scenes with a dog (that, hate to break it to you, isn't really talking), but there is much joy to be had in the way the villains have been cast. As Simon Barsinister, Peter Dinklage gets to show off his comedy chops, and given that his sidekick is played by the dry as dust Patrick Warburton, one begins to pine whenever this mutt-and-jeff act is not on-screen.


Along the way, the filmmakers do some nice little parodies of Superman's greatest hits--scaring a cat-burglar off his suction cups, taking a flight among the stars with his favorite bitch (look, sorry, it's accurate), and because it's Disney, even throw in a plug for "Lady and the Tramp." With Jason Lee providing U-Dog's voice and the ubiquitous Amy Adams as gal-pal Polly, it's pretty good for a talking dog movie, and quite good for a flying, talking dog movie.