Bob Hoskins, William Petersen, Pamela Reed
Here's a movie for those requiring evidence that there's no laugh after death. When Jack Warden, patriarch of a big family, drops dead—he's just back at work after a coronary, and his boob son William (Young Guns II) Petersen throws him a surprise party—the clan gathers for a wake. The contentious group is now headed by eldest son Hoskins (with his on-again, off-again British accent, he is bizarrely cast as Warden's offspring), a tree surgeon in a midlife crisis. Add to the mix Hoskins' sisters, Pamela (Kindergarten Cop) Reed, the family rebel, and Frances (Mississippi Burning) McDormand, a nun accompanied by an illegal alien. Now stir in drug dealer turned embalmer Peter (Local Hero) Riegert, an unwed, pregnant granddaughter (Teri Polo) and mysterious-stranger Nancy Travis. Imagine the merriment when two INS agents hunt for the illegal alien while he's stashed in the coffin.
These actors are a talented lot but hardly talented enough to resuscitate this lifeless script. (PG-13)
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