A Texas Funeral

1999
A Texas Funeral
6.3| 1h38m| en| More Info
Released: 01 January 1999 Released
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Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

It's 1968 and the Whit clan are reuniting for the burial of Grandpa Sparta (Martin Sheen). But Sparta still has some secrets to reveal to his family and wisdom to impart to his grandson, in this whimsical comedy from the writer of The Bourne Identity.

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drumax-759-417828 This movie was interesting to say the least. Upon the death of the head of a family with a colorful history, the family gathers for a funeral and a lot of family secrets are revealed.Its not terribly serious in tone although it gets heavy in parts. The nervousness regarding the Black man in their midst was funny and rather true of the time and place. It certainly had humor which balanced the heavy subject of past wrongs and injustices and as the facade each person holds up starts to crack.Its hard to classify such a film that is trying to be a little of everything. It couldn't be but it was interesting watching them try.In the end the movie was engaging and I found myself genuinely interested and invested in most of the characters. So much so that I almost wish they could have had 'a what happened to these characters' segment at the end as I wanted to know how it all turned out for each person!! Worth a watch.
Razor Ramon I'm on the fence with this movie. I picked this up in a $5 4-movie pack; so I wasn't expecting much, and for that I can't fault it. The film paints a nice image of 1960s (err...1950s) Texas, which both serves as a great setting and the film's main problem. The gritty farm where most of the film takes place in the midst of nighttime gives off the sense of death (the Funeral the title is referencing), yet there are many instances of this deathly tone being directly contradicted. Without giving anything away, this film has numerous over-the-top scenarios (exotic animals and weird fetishes) that it overuses to the point of intentional farce, yet it takes them extremely seriously. You wonder if it is purposely humorous for most of the way through as there are so many laughs to be had but no indication of comedic recognition. The final thing is the cast. All of them do their jobs, with Martin Sheen obviously having the best bits; the only problem is that they all represent a polarized 50s stereotype (yes, 50s. Even though its supposedly set in the late 60s it REALLY feels the decade before). There's no characters to relate with, except for the little boy, played by Quinton Jones. Even he though seems a little off for most of the film, with unnecessary quirks of every character rampant throughout. It's not a terrible film and you'll get some entertainment out of it, but probably not how the filmmakers intended. It certainly isn't worth any money by itself.
johnharrold The performances are excellent. I did not even recognize Olivia D'Abo.It would be impossible to explain the plot of this film, and that is one of the reasons why I like it so much.The film touches on the importance of family ties, without being sappy. It touches on the the importance of forgiveness, without being preachy.It has plenty of "quirky" characters and situations, but not so much as to make them ridiculous. That is not to say that they are not absurd, and that is a good thing.It is not a ghost story as some synopses might cause one to believe. (Albeit, I might not have watched it if it were not for my being given that idea from a Comcast blurb.) I recommend A Texas Funeral to anybody who likes films that have plots that are difficult to detect in which direction they are going to go, but are a joy to follow.
kencomer "A Texas Funeral" could have been better, but there wasn't anything resoundingly bad about it. It was a quirkily comical view of a family reunion brought about by the death of the family's atriarch, and the characters had an authentic 1960's Texas flavor to them.Everyone except grandma had at least one moment of personal revelation, and everyone got something good out of the deal. It was a pretty "feel good" kind of movie, and it was sufficiently funny to compensate for its lack of depth.If you see rent this on video as an excuse to eat hot buttered popcorn, you won't be disappointed. If you are expecting great cinema, you will be.