Passed Away Movie Review 1992

Family patriarch Jack Scanlan dies and his entire family gets together for the funeral and a big Irish wake. The family, of course, is made up of a weird group of characters, good steadfast son Hoskins, dim-witted but good-looking son Petersen, rebellious daughter Reed, and a left-wing nun who works in Central America and is accompanied by an illegal alien (McDormand). Throw in a mysterious female mourner and a pregnant granddaughter who goes into labor at the graveside and you come up with a movie that manages to use every comic death cliche ever imagined. Talented cast is wasted in a movie that should have passed away.

Distribution

Hollywood Pictures Home Video, Fairmont Bldg. 526, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505-9842, Phone: (818)562-3560

Available on VHS
Running time 96 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Black Comedy, Death & the Afterlife, Family Reunions

Screenplay

Charlie Peters

Cast

Bob Hoskins, Jack Warden, William L. Petersen, Helen Lloyd Breed, Maureen Stapleton, Pamela Reed, Tim Curry, Peter Riegert, Blair Brown, Patrick Breen, Nancy Travis, Teri Polo, Frances McDormand

Cinematography

Arthur Albert

Director

Charlie Peters

Music

Richard Gibbs

Producer

Buena Vista, Larry Brezner, Timothy Marx