Product Details

• Actors: David Schwimmer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Rapaport, Toni Collette, Carol Kane
• Directors: Matt Reeves
• Writers: Matt Reeves, Jason Katims
• Producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, J.J. Abrams, Jason Katims, Meryl Poster
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: August 5, 1997
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304202733
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #328,009 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

David Schwimmer plays a drifting twentysomething who receives a telephone call out of the blue to be a pallbearer at the funeral of someone he supposedly knew in school. Trouble is, the caller has mistaken Schwimmer's character for someone else, but our hapless hero--who still lives with his mother at home--doesn't know how to say no. An encounter with the dead man's mother (Barbara Hershey) leads to a sexual relationship, while an old flame (Gwyneth Paltrow) from high school is suddenly on the horizon if only Schwimmer's loser character can quickly get his act together. This umpteenth variation on the Oedipal conflicts in Mike Nichols's The Graduate doesn't have the imagination, vitality, or authority to take classic themes about growing up all the way to the finish line. But in its brooding, comic way, it is honest about the difficulties of crossing the line into adulthood when one doesn't know how. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sadness as a comedy?, February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pallbearer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have to say to those who didn't see this film - it's not a comedy at all, it's about being lonely and being sad, and about how when you live in a lonely sadness all your life, what happens when you have to change it in a moment? I thought it was lovely, the acting was perfect for the rolls, and the soundtrack added a lot to the movie.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not funny, yet very good, August 19, 2000

By 

Spike Sagal (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pallbearer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

For all those people who said "This wasn't funny at all": the movie is NOT a comedy! It is rather tragic story, somewhat resembling "The Graduate". And yes, it's true that characters are pathetic, disgusting, and sad. But that is often how people really are in life, and it's a good point the movie made. The ending, however, was a little awkward. I thought there was going to be more to the movie.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not funny, May 24, 2004

By 

Stacie L. Helsing "stacielc" (MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pallbearer (DVD)

The box advertises a hilarious movie. It was not bad, just not funny.