Eulogy

• DVD Details: Actors: Ray Romano, Jesse Bradford, Hank Azaria, Rip Torn, Zooey Deschanel
• Directors: Michael Clancy
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC. Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1; Number of discs: 1; Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: February 8, 2005; Run Time: 91 minutes

One dead patriarch, one deliciously dysfunctional family, and one wickedly funny irreverent comedy! When three generations of a deliciously dysfunctional family gather to bury the family patriarch, the beloved granddaughter of the deceased is given the task of delivering the eulogy. In the days leading up to the funeral, family secrets are revealed, old grudges resurface and the household erupts with renewed vigor. Eulogy is ultimately a heartwarming portrait of a houseful of misfits celebrating the strangest and most enduring bond of all.A spirited ensemb! le cast keeps things cooking in Eulogy, a black comedy about a gathering of the dysfunctional Collins family following the death of its prickly patriarch (Rip Torn). Zooey Deschanel plays granddaughter Kate, struggling to fulfill the old man's last wish that she write his eulogy. Meanwhile, her dad (Hank Azaria), a has-been actor, smokes pot in the dark and referees battles between his seamy brother Skip (Ray Romano), lesbian sister Lucy (Kelly Preston) and her lover Judy (Famke Janssen), caustic sibling Alice (Debra Winger), and suicidal mother Charlotte (Piper Laurie). Confused about her loyalties, poor Kate alternately runs to and from best friend Ryan (Jesse Bradford), who wants to become her lover, while Alice--super-critical of Lucy's sexuality--fails to keep secret her own fling with a nurse (Glenne Headly). Eulogy never quite reaches full boil, but there are many funny moments, and Deschanel, Romano, and Preston are particularly watchable. --Tom Keo! gh