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DVD Eulogy
A spirited ensemble cast keeps things cooking in Eulogy, a black comedy about a gathering of the dysfunctional Collins family following the death of its prickly patriarch (Rip Torn). Zooey Deschanel plays granddaughter Kate, struggling to fulfill the old man's last wish that she write his eulogy. Meanwhile, her dad (Hank Azaria), a has-been actor, smokes pot in the dark and referees battles between his seamy brother Skip (Ray Romano), lesbian sister Lucy (Kelly Preston) and her lover Judy (Famke Janssen), caustic sibling Alice (Debra Winger), and suicidal mother Charlotte (Piper Laurie). Confused about her loyalties, poor Kate alternately runs to and from best friend Ryan (Jesse Bradford), who wants to become her lover, while Alice--super-critical of Lucy's sexuality--fails to keep secret her own fling with a nurse (Glenne Headly). Eulogy never quite reaches full boil, but there are many funny moments, and Deschanel, Romano, and Preston are particularly watchable. --Tom Keogh
Some friends and I were looking for something to do after an evening of cigar smoking and poker. We stopped into our local video store with no idea what to watch. By chance, I picked up the case for Eulogy and saw that it had Hank Azaria and Ray Romano in it. The premise seemed funny, so we picked it up. Turns out, we did very good.
Eulogy is the story of the Collins family reuniting for the funeral of the grandfather. There are two sons and two daughters of the man: The Child Actor Turned Porn Star (Azaria), the Sleazy Negligent Father (Romano), the High Strung Bitch (Debra Winger), and the Rebellious Lesbian (Kelly Preston). The story is told from the point of view of Kate Collins (Zooey Deschanel), daughter of the porn star. She is given the task of writing a eulogy for her grandfather. As she tries to find good things to say about the man, she discovers it's much harder than it sounds, especially because the Collins family is hopelessly dysfunctional. As she tries to survive her family, she also has to deal with her feelings for an old friend-turned-boyfriend.
This movie is funny. Each of the characters have their own little quirks and style. The coming together of so many interesting people creates hilarious tension and problems. Whether it is the precocious and mischievious children of Ray Romano, the family's distrust/curiousity about lesbians, the suicidal widow, or Debra Winger's husband who can't talk out of fear of his wife, all the different characters gel in a delightful way. The movie also excels at making these vastly different people seem like they really did at one time live together as a family.
Zooey Deschanel (who you might remember from Elf, one of the best Christmas movies ever) is perfect in her role as the struggling-to-be-normal girl who just wants to bring her family together for a moment. She's a fine actress and I'm eager to see what she does with her career. Ray Romano is extremely funny in his role as the Sleazy Negligent Father. I've never laughed so hard at the man. Hank Azaria also plays his role well, the child actor trying to be well adjusted in adulthood. Debra Winger (the Bitch) is extremely funny and her whole attitude makes you love to hate her. The only character who lacked as much substance as everyone else was Kelly Preston. She was just the rebellious lesbian and didn't have as much nuance. Even so, the entire cast did a great job.
My only complaints about the movie revolve around a certain hidden secret of one of the characters. I felt that it kind of cheapened that character and perpetuated a certain cliché that I find to be annoying. You'll understand what I mean when you see the film. The secret was still played humorously, but I felt it was unnecessary and distracted from the movie.
All in all, I'm surprised that I've never heard of this movie. I wish I had because this is an outstanding film. It is one of the better dark comedies to come along. This ought to go down as a classic. Rent it, buy it, do what you have to do to see this movie.
MY GRADE: A
They are just like my family
warped...great humour...wished they all could be like this. Excellent soundtrack.
Quirky and Pleasantly Refreshing
Eulogy is a smart, dark comedy with a stellar cast. They really work well as an ensemble, and they play off of each other. You can really see this in the basement scene. This movie is great to watch with friends if you just want to stay in on a friday night, and it has so many nuances that you'll end up talking about it all weekend. The only reason this movie didn't get 5 stars was because a couple of the scenes could have fit together better, but the deleted scenes at the end help explain somethings. P.S. there are extra scenes during the final credits so don't miss them.
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Four extremely beautiful people do extremely horrible things to one another in Closer, Mike Nichols' pungent adaptation of Patrick Marber's play that easily marks the Oscar-winning director's best work in years. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Mike Nichols DVD Release Date: Released the 29 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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