The Funeral Movie Review 1996

Ferrara fuels fantastic performances from his famous thesps in this fatalistic tale of a family of gangsters in 1930s New York. Flashbacks from the opening funeral scene show a complex and troubled family of Italian brothers (Walken, Penn, and Gallo), from their formative years through their quest for justice after youngest brother Johnny is murdered. Not just another mob movie; characters are multi-dimensional with interesting quirks and Penn, especially, sprints into his role. More subtle than "Bad Lieutenant" and less pretentious than "The Addiction," this Ferrara flick is the one to see.

Distribution

Hallmark Home Entertainment, 6100 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1400, Los Angeles, CA 90048, Phone: (213)634-3000, Fax: (213)549-3760, Remarks: Lainie Handelman, Mktg.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 96 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Organized Crime, Great Depression, Hit Men/Women, New York, New York, Great Depression, Family Ties, Revenge

Screenplay

Nicholas St. John

Cast

Christopher Walken, Benicio Del Toro, Vincent Gallo, Christopher Penn, Isabella Rossellini, Annabella Sciorra, John Ventimiglia, Paul Hipp, Gretchen Mol

Cinematography

Ken Kelsch

Director

Abel Ferrara

Music

Joe Delia

Producer

Mary Kane, Michael Chambers, Patrick Panzarella, October Films