Eulogy (2004)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Eulogy" is about Kate, the oldest granddaughter of three generations of humorous dysfunctionality, is given the task of writing her departed grandfather's eulogy. Problem is, no one in the family, including his wife, cared that he was even alive still. Of course, like in simliar pictures, the family's grudges are relived and secrets are revealed until the patriach's funeral is over. The picture includes a very notable cast, including Hank Azaria (Mystery Men), Ray Romano (TV's Everybody Loves Raymond), Famke Janssen (Made), Kelly Preston (For Love of the Game), Piper Laurie (Dream a Little Dream), Rip Torn (Men In Black) and my favorite actress to come out of retirement Debra Winger (Radio). Because of the high amount of talent, this picture was lifted to a level of enjoyment surpassing its more boring inspirations, like 1990's "Daddy's Dyin'… Who's Got the Will?" with Beau Bridges and Beverly D'Angelo. A consistent pleasure in the cast was Zooey Deschanel (Elf) as Kate, the eulogy writer. Her own storyline involving a childhood crush was very cute and not overplayed. She did a great job assessing the story with the same perspective as the objective viewer. She has a nice moment when actually reading the "euglogy" in act three. Winger was the easiest character to dislike, showing how horribly screwed up she was inside. Her performance was commanding. Preston and Janssen played an on screen couple, which left the picture open to lesbian humor, without being mean spirited or spiteful. Even Romano was decent in his role. He played a simple minded lawyer, without reverting to his TV persona too much. The storyline of "Eulogy" was just outlandish enough. The mother/grandmother kept trying to kill herself, but failing or was stopped. However, she only attempts to take her life twice, and if it's going to be a "schtick," writer/director Michael Clancy (Emily's Last Date) could have added a couple other attempts for it to play out. As it stands, grandma's stunts were a little hollow to get the big laughs. "Eulogy" had a couple of plot twists, which made act three very enjoyable and absolutely hilarious for the most part. The cast was top notch, but overall, the movie resembled a few other dysfunctional family comedies in spots. I'd rent this one before buying it. More than likely, you will find it highly enjoyable, especially if you like black comedy. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
There's been a handful of comedies to poke fun at dysfunctional families coming together over the death of a parent, but this one seems to stand out a bit more than others.