Search - Undertaking Betty on DVD

A great English comedy that has been criminally overlooked..

M. J Leonard | Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States | 09/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Death can be funny; at least it is in the small Welsh town of Wrottin-Powys, population 7,500. The town indeed has some zany and eccentric characters who seem to want to capitalize on our journey into the afterlife, not the least is big-haired eccentric funeral director Frank Featherbed (Christopher Walken) and his nerdy assistant Delbert (Lee Evans).

Frank and Delbert have a whole new angle going and have begun to offer to the townsfolk new types of funerals. Their latest catch is a "fantasy funeral" in which the deceased dream is realized in the service. One has a Star Trek theme because it was her favourite show, and another is a star on Broadway.

Alfred Molina's Boris Plotz is the rival undertaker who has been forced to hide his secret thirty-year crush on Brenda Blethyn's Betty Rhys Jones. They have always shared a passion for ballroom dancing, but the dutiful Betty's father insisted she marry Robert Pugh's self-important and arrogant Hugh, who was actually interested in Betty's money.

Seventeen years into their marriage, Hugh has become the town mayor, carrying on a sordid affair with his sexy secretary (Naomi Watts) while Betty is stuck caring for his terrible bedridden mother. But when her mother-in-law accidentally dies, Betty reunites with Boris, and they both fall in love again.

Just as Watt's mistress plots to poison the self-effacing Betty, Boris is persuading Betty to play dead so that they can run off together, concocting a plan to fake Betty's death, allowing the couple to run away together guilt-free - though the plan doesn't exactly go off without a hitch.

Undertaking Betty is unadulterated fun, charming and comedic, with a script that is full darkly humorous situations. The real charm however, comes from the actors, who end up turning in nice ensemble performances Instead of trying to upstage one another; they seem to be doing it to have fun.

Although Walken might seem a bit out of place as an American in this rather isolated town, his madness and bizarreness indeed complements all the irreverent shenanigans. Undertaking Betty is truly a terrific film, and it really works because it manages to deal ramifications of death in inadvertently funny ways.

Under Nick Hurran's direction, the cast has a good time indulging in Frederick Ponzlov's script that piles on the intentional and calculated silliness, but which also manages to tell a cute and very sweet love story. Mike Leonard September 06.

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