Death at a Funeral (2007)

“Death at a Funeral” is a perfectly British comedy, and perfectly horribly vulgar as only the British can get away with, so wickedly, gleefully well. It is a light-as-spongecake gem about a FUBAR family, a dead father, a gay dwarf, ingested psychedelic drugs and nudity. The beauty of this film is not just in the one-liners, the zingers, the absolute silliness of it all, but the performances: Matthew Macfadyen as the surpassed son, Rupert Graves as the famous son living in NYC, Alan Tudyk as the accidental drug user, Andy Nyman as a one-upper germ freak who is literally shat on, and Peter Dinklage as the conniving man of challenged height. Not even a full 90 minutes, the film leaves one desiring more. That’s my mark for a good comedy. A point Judd Apatow could well learn. It also gives hope to the directing career of Frank Oz, post “The Stepford Wives” remake. A-