SYNOPSIS:
This
comedy takes a riotous look at small town Welsh country life centered around
competing funeral homes.
BORIS PLOTZ, Director
of Plotz Funeral Homes, dreamed of only two things as a young boyÉdancing
and BETTY. Betty secretly loved Boris, but could not fight her father’s
wishes, so she was married off to a gold digger. Boris gave up his dreams
and took over family’s undertaking business. Everything remained status
quo until Betty’s mother-in-law dies. Boris and Betty are thrown together
to discuss the funeral arrangements and old spark is re-kindled.
Meanwhile, a rival funeral
director, an American, FRANK FEATHERBED, is determined to revolutionalize
the undertaking business through the innovation of “theme” funerals.
Boris and Betty discover
that the only obstacle between their love for one another, is Betty’s
marriage to the two-timing Mayor. In a desperate bid for happiness Boris
and Betty decide to stage her death and run away together. Boris pursues
the plan for faking Betty’s death by enlisting the help of the town
doctor. But still, nothing goes as planned and so the comedy begins.
MOVIE
REVIEW :
“Plots with a View” is a Welsh film about a Welsh town that
consists of relatively un-Welsh leads. Strangely enough, the US title of
this film is called “Undertaking Betty”, which honestly, sounds
much better suited with the plot. It goes something like this. Boris Plots
(Alfred Molina) is a funeral director who is still harbouring a 30 year
crush on Betty Rhys-Jones (Brenda Blethyn). Sadly, Betty is married to the
town’s councillor, who is having an affair with his secretary played
by a pre-Mulholland Drive Naomi Watts. Boris and Betty soon discover that
they’re made for each other and plan to stage Betty’s death
in hopes they’ll be able to run away to Tahiti. As this comedy ensues,
Frank Featherbed (Christopher Walken), an American who wishes to revolutionize
funerals, appears and hopes to be the one who can direct Betty’s funeral
to become the leading funeral director in town.
This romantic film is
not typical of the popcorn driven ones of late. Rather, it is a story of
middle-aged lovers who prove that at that age, they can still be as star-crossed
as Romeo and Juliet.
While the cast does
relatively well, Christopher Walken, steals the show as he always does.
As the funeral director bent on being the future of funerals, Featherbed
conjures a funeral with a Star Trek theme for an old lady complete with
music, rising capsule and of course, Dr. Spock’s ears.
Although this
film is a charming one, I wasn’t really enjoying myself. The whole
notion of faking one’s death seemed a bit too farfetched and the whole
funeral bit appeared wild. But, I guess one must watch this film with an
open mind. Pick up the DVD and try to enjoy the film. It might just charm
your socks off in a dysfunctional way.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
“Plots
with a View” isn’t fitted with any special feature. It would’ve
been nice though to know how the screenwriter conjured the feuding funeral
directors bit of the plot.
AUDIO:
The
DVD comes in English Dolby Digital 2.0.
VISUAL:
A
blend of green plains and grey stone streets capture the mood of the Welsh
country. The characters are dressed in colours which represent their identity.
For example, Betty was dressed in purple, pink and light green to reflect
her buoyant nature while Meredith (Naomi Watts) was decked in black leather
and striking red to represent her naughty nature. Bright lights and brown
hues were also used in sequences to bring about a nostalgic touch to the
film.
MOVIE
RATING:
(This film proves that middle-aged lovers can still be as star-crossed as
Romeo and Juliet!)
DVD RATING:
Review by Mohamad Shaifulbahri
