Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious & Interesting Dialogue Support this Sleeper, April 23, 2005
I thoroughly enjoyed watching EULOGY, a dark comedy about a family who is reunited when the male patriarch of the family passes away. To be honest, when I saw the cast and the well-trodden plot description, I was not expecting anything stellar. But the film exceeded my expectations and manages to find some breathing room and originality in its short 91 minutes. The plot of EULOGY, as every reviewer has described, is not complex. Director Michael Clancy manages to pull you into the dysfunctional lives of these characters and let you be a fly on the wall to their hilarious and ridiculous fights.
One interesting aspect of the film is its treatment of death. You don't always expect to have any serious message coming from a comedy, but EULOGY has one. While everyone has come to this funeral on the pretense of mourning their father, the occasion becomes a time for them all to mourn their own lives and failures. It is a natural message enough: obviously, a death in the family makes one painfully aware of one's own mortality. However, there is something added in this film. No one seems to be truly sorry to see the old man go, except the granddaughter who seems to have a distorted view of him. Perhaps, the fact that they have all gathered to "honor" the death of a man they did not openly love forces them to realize the lack of love and connection they have in their own lives. Will we be mourned at the end of our lives?
Now, I am not trying to sift EULOGY for some deep meaning or message. But hidden behind all of the comedy and the hilarious (and absurd) dialogue, there is some real emotion to be had in these scenes. Having not expected any, I was surprised and pleased by the end result. My only major criticism of the film is the forced love story between the granddaughter and an old fling of hers. It seems tacked onto the film unnaturally and serves only to snap the teenager out of her false world of mourning to join the rest of her family. If you have the opportunity to see it, I would highly recommend this film to you.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Could Not stop Laughing, September 18, 2004
This is the most hilarious movie since "Blazing Saddles." I laughed until my sides hurt. I was never a fan of Ray Ramano until I saw this movie. What ever you do, don't leave the theater until the final scene!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dad's dead and the family decides if it cares, April 28, 2005
The family's patriarch dies suddenly, and the splintered family hesitantly regroups to mourn the loss. With old issues and new lives firmly intact, they all attempt to put up with each other and discover their true feelings about their choices, each other and their father - played typically well, though sparingly, by Rip Torn. The cast is excellent, with always funny Hank Azaria playing a one-hit-wonder child star who can only get parts in porn movies, as the guy reacting to the others having sex. Kelly Preston plays the angry lesbian sister scorned by the other sister, played by Debra Winger. These two do a great job of hating each other and have maybe the best girl fight I've seen in a movie. Everyone else in the cast turn in good performances, including Piper Laurie as the hilariously suicidal mother, but Ray Romano surprised the hell out of me with an excellent performance that just may have shined the brightest. I haven't been a Romano fan until now.
The family relations are convoluted, the performances excellent, the writing hilarious and the ending truly surprising. Don't miss this movie.
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