Eulogy

Synopsis: Following the sudden death of the family patriarch Edmund (Rip Torn), three generations of the Collins family gather for the funeral. Family secrets, sibling rivalries and jealousies come spilling out in the strained lead-up to the funeral.

This mordantly funny black comedy about death and a dysfunctional family comes from first-time feature film director Michael Clancy, and its semi-autobiographical nature has a painful ring of personal honesty and truth to it.

Eulogy contains some bitingly hilarious one-liners and some wonderfully funny moments of slapstick humour that elevate it above the usual clichés, but ultimately it doesn't go as far as it could have in exploring the idiosyncrasies of this troubled family. We've seen this sort of thing many times before, but at least this guest, at a brisk and bittersweet 84 minutes, never seems to overstay its welcome although some promising ideas are never fully developed, and it leaves the audience feeling a little unsatisfied despite its numerous pleasures.

Clancy has assembled a stellar ensemble cast, and they bring equal amounts of pathos and caustic humour to their largely self-centred and unlikable characters. Skip (Ray Romano) is an obnoxious lawyer who resents the fact that his father always ignored him, and he brings along his equally obnoxious twin sons, who revel in the misfortunes of their eccentric relatives. Returning to the screen after a short absence, Debra Winger is superb as Alice, the control freak whose family is so cowed they are afraid to speak or act in her presence. Lucy (Kelly Preston) brings along her life partner and fiancée Judy (Famke Janssen), and their relationship provides the family with some moments of perverse humour. Daniel (Hank Azaria) is a former child star who now ekes out a living appearing in porn videos. His misfit daughter Kate (Zooey Deschanel), who also narrates the film, is asked to write the eulogy for her grandfather, but she finds little help from her feuding family. It seems that no-one really liked the man.Meanwhile, family matriarch Charlotte (Piper Laurie) tires of all the bickering and twice tries to commit suicide.

The aftermath of the do-it-yourself Viking funeral pyre and the reading of the will, with its unexpected turn, lead to a catharsis that suggests that the family is on the way to healing itself. By the end of the film we feel some sympathy for its members, and that is probably Clancy's greatest achievement.

 

 

Want more about this film?

    

Want something different?