Gallows humor

Fans of British comedy will like Death at a Funeral | Jenny Kraemer

Tea can do many things, Jane, but it can't bring back the dead." So states Sandra (Jane Asher), the matriarch of a dysfunctional British family dealing with the death of a family member, in director Frank Oz's Death at a Funeral. It is a movie that fits squarely in the tradition of British comedy, mixing bawdiness, slapstick, and irreverence to clever effect.

Rated R for drug content, language, and nudity, Death at a Funeral features an ensemble cast but focuses most closely on Daniel (Matthew McFadyen), the youngest son of the deceased. His desires to honor his father in a dignified manner and to write a book outside of the shadow of his successful novelist brother Robert (Rupert Graves) provide the movie's underlying conflict.