Eulogy - last words

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Movie
German title Eulogy - last words
Original title Eulogy
Country of production USA , UK , Germany
original language English
Publishing year 2004
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Michael Clancy
script Michael Clancy
production Kirk D'Amico ,
Lucas Foster ,
Steven Haft ,
Richard Barton Lewis
music George S. Clinton
camera Michael Chapman
cut Richard Halsey ,
Ryan Kushner
occupation
synchronization

Eulogy - Last Words (alternative title: After death is before inheritance ) is a black comedy from 2004 that was a US , British and German co-production as a directorial debut by Michael Clancy . She accompanies the members of a dysfunctional family after the death of the head of the family when they meet again for the settlement of testamentary obligations and funeral.

action

Kate Collins seeks out a stranger to deliver grave news to her.

Edmund Collins' children - two sons Danny (Kate's father) and Skip, two daughters Alice and Lucy - have received news of his death and are gathering with their children with their mother and widow Charlotte. Kate, the oldest and only adult granddaughter, is given the task of writing an eulogy by her grandmother upon arrival. Her aunt Lucy appears with her life partner Judy, which is commented on with inappropriate comments by her sister Alice and Skip's adolescent sons Fred and Ted, especially when Lucy announces at dinner that she and Judy are getting married and the others are invited. The scuffles between the sisters result in their mother sneaking away and taking an overdose of pills after the others find her. She ends up in the hospital, where the nurses in the nurse Samantha meet an old friend. Charlotte's stomach is pumped out and she is supposed to stay overnight. During this time, Kate gets to grips with anecdotes about her grandfather for her eulogy. Her father, a former advertising actor as a child and a porn actor as an adult (according to Kate "in obscure foreign films"), reveals in conversation that her mother was also an actress instead of a social worker, as he had previously told her. So she borrows a film from the video store with her mother: Vagina Town . When she puts it on the TV of the house, her former boyfriend Ryan, whom they had left without saying goodbye on their first night together, so she causes a power outage so that he and Skip's sons cannot see their mother, is just passing by.

The next morning Charlotte returns home. When Danny and her daughters buy a coffin, she reveals to them that Edmund does not want to be buried at all, but that his coffin should float on a burning boat on the nearby river. Meanwhile, Kate and Ryan meet for a discussion and finally kiss on the meadow under the bridge. When the sisters are arguing again on the way home, Charlotte jumps out of the moving car and lands at the feet of the kissing couple. At the hospital, she is diagnosed with various fractures and wrapped in a cast. At home, the rest of the siblings talk to Judy about Alice's past, when she was a rebellious teenager and not yet a control freak. While Kate and Ryan are sitting in the tree in front of the house, Samantha drives up and speaks to Alice in her car. The reminiscence leads to the two kissing and undressing, which is observed from the house by the rest. When Ryan descends from the tree, he lands on Samantha's windshield.

The following day, when the funeral takes place, Alice has disappeared into the woods and Ryan, whose leg is broken, is bid farewell to Kate. During the laying out, to which Samantha brought Charlotte from the hospital, the pastor, who barely knew the late Edmund, bursts into tears over a death in his own family. Suddenly Alice comes back and plays the piano and sings a romantic song for Samantha, which Lucy interrupts annoyed. When the wills are read out, the family is shown a video will in which Edmund Collins reveals to them that over the years he was not on the road for work, but because he had two other secret families. He instructs Kate to tell them about his death. The family takes the wooden coffin to the nearby river, where Skip's sons try to set it on fire with arrows on the lake, while Kate delivers her funeral oration with the help of Ryan's suicide note. When the boys finally meet, the coffin explodes.

Kate told this story to the woman from the first scene, but when she reacts it turns out that she is not Barbara Collins, another of Edmund's women, but their neighbor. Kate throws a story explaining video in the mail to the correct Barbara, but when she watches it, it's Vagina Town .

Cast and dubbing

role description Actress Voice actor
Katie Collins Granddaughter of the deceased Zooey Deschanel Anna Carlsson
Ryan Carmichael Katie's friend Jesse Bradford Marius Clarén
Daniel Collins Katie's father Hank Azaria Bernd Vollbrecht
Skip Collins Katie's uncle Ray Romano Erich Rauker
Fred Collins Skip's sons Curtis Garcia Johannes Walenta
Ted Collins Keith Garcia
Lucy Collins Katie's aunt Kelly Preston Bettina White
Judy Arnolds Lucy's life partner Famke Janssen Christin Marquitan
Alice Collins Katie's aunt Debra Winger
Samantha Alice's girlfriend Glenne Headly
Charlotte Collins Katie's grandmother Piper Laurie Inken summer
Edmund Collins Katie's grandfather Rip Torn Hans-Werner Bussinger

annotation

In 2003, Winona Ryder turned for the film, which was heralded as her comeback after a conviction.

publication

In the United States, Eulogy was released in theaters on October 15, 2004 and on DVD on February 8, 2005. In Germany the DVD with the title Eulogy - Last Words was released on November 16, 2006 and again with the alternative title After death is before inheritance on June 16, 2011.

reception

Eulogy is rated positively by viewers and average to negative by critics. On the Internet platform IMDb , the film currently has 6.6 out of 10 points after over 8,000 reviews and on Rotten Tomatoes a viewer rating of 71% with almost 9,000 ratings, on the other hand a critic rating of 34% with 35 reviews. On Metacritic he received a viewer rating of 7.0 / 10, but a review average of 34 points based on 12 generally not benevolent reviews.

The LdiF noted that the prominent film does not always bring all the narrative threads under one roof, but that it convinces with its playfulness and dialogue. Björn Becher criticized on Screenrush that the film shallow characters comprising although the performers their pleasure is to be noted in the game and they would harmonize in part.

Stephen Holden of the New York Times sees the ensemble comedy A Wedding as the prototype of this funeral farce. The characters are of the kind you find in sitcoms like Arrested Development . He also judges that because the plot structure is haphazard, most jokes would hit dull. Ed Gonzalez for Slant , who awards 1.5 out of 4 stars, also draws a comparison with Arrested Development : In contrast, the spitefulness of the film shows no greater, unspoken family love for one another or complexity of emotions and behavior. Maitland McDonagh for TV Guide is surprised that Michael Clancy was able to assemble such a strong cast for his uninspired comedy. Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly thinks this is strangely overqualified.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Approval for Eulogy - Final Words . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , November 2006 (PDF; test number: 108 212 DVD).
  2. ↑ Eulogy - Last Words. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on June 1, 2018 .
  3. ↑ The Wonderful Transformation of Winona Ryder. Die Welt , April 9, 2003, accessed December 28, 2019 .
  4. ↑ BoxOfficeMojo , accessed December 26, 2019
  5. ↑ a b Eulogy - Last Words at Rotten Tomatoes (English) Template: Rotten Tomatoes / Maintenance / "imported from" is missing, accessed December 26, 2019
  6. ↑ Eulogy - Last Words. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 26, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. ↑ cargo-records.de , accessed on December 26, 2019
  8. ↑ Eulogy - Last words in the Internet Movie Database (English) , accessed on 28 December 2019
  9. ↑ Eulogy - Final Words at Metacritic , accessed December 28, 2019
  10. ↑ Eulogy - Last Words. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 1, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  11. ↑ Björn Becher: Eulogy. Film releases , accessed June 1, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Stephen Holden: One Last Party, With No Kind Words for the Guest of Honor. The New York Times, October 15, 2002, accessed December 28, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Ed Gonzalez: Review: Eulogy. Slant, October 2, 2004, accessed December 28, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Maitland McDonagh: Eulogy Review. TV Guide, accessed December 28, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Lisa Schwarzbaum: Eulogy. Entertainment Weekly, October 13, 2004, accessed December 28, 2019 .