Heres_Johny
Just Buried is another pot of comedic gold at the end of the Canadian rainbow, starring our favorite go-to woobie Jay Baruchel and the prolific Rose Byrne of Bridesmaids fame. The long and short of it? Watch it.Just Buried was released in 2007, so I'm nearly a decade late to the party on this one, but I had high hopes for this pairing, having seen both actors progress in their more recent careers. Baruchel's most known for his collaborations with fellow incognito-Canadian Seth Rogen in films like Knocked Up and This Is The End, where he plays a lovable guy who gets kicked around by fate (and Just Buried is no departure). Byrne's a little harder to pin down – she'd played in everything from super-hero flicks to horrors like Insidious, with a smattering of indie thrown in for good measure – so I was delighted to discover a new facet of her skill-set in Just Buried, where she plays an obsessive mortician with a ludicrous but lovable knack for accidental crime.At its heart Just Buried could be compared to a number of other David-Goliath underdog comedies like Dodgeball or The Longest Yard, but it goes further than that. It's a buddy-tale between protagonist Oliver (Baruchel) and Roberta (Byrne) in the same vein as I Love You Man, featuring two very different but surprisingly compatible strangers who form a fast friendship (plus, later on, the inevitable wish-fulfillment fantasy typical of these sorts of films, where the nerdy nervous hero takes a corner in life and finds himself at the absurd center of a number of women and their rapidly escalating sexual advances).But first and foremost, it's a comedy of errors.Oliver, in town for his estranged father's funeral, expected a quick in-and-out visit; that is, until the will is executed, and Oliver inherits his father's funeral home. It's only later that he's informed his own father is the home's first 'customer' in a year. The business has been ailing ever since sleaze-ball Wayne Snarr (Christopher Shore) opened a rival funeral home, interdicting which his greasy marketing all the 'clients' from the retirement home which had been a goldmine for Oliver's father. The setup for the underdog comedy is obvious, but it's a trope viewers seemingly never tire of, and I daresay a funeral-home is a fresher take on the genre than a dodgeball team (or any sporting team, for that matter).While command of the funeral home, Oliver meets Roberta, the young, somewhat creepy mortician as well as the local coroner. Nervous Oliver (who suffers a nosebleed every time he gets nervous, often to hilarious effect) bumbles through their encounters until Roberta takes pity on him and takes him out for drinks.It's here the film takes a turn into the absurd, which predictably is when the comedy kicks in.After their cocktails and beers Oliver insists he probably shouldn't be driving. Eternally upbeat Roberta insists "everyone around here does it", and they hop in the truck and take backroads. Everything's going fine, and we're starting so suspect some unlikely romantic undertones, until Oliver looks away from the road for a moment… … And just like that, the funeral home's got another customer.For once, things seem to go right for Oliver. His first official funeral as director is a smashing success, and the dearly-deceased had the decency to be relatively loaded. But naturally, we can assume all is not well. And as the pair go to greater and more absurd lengths to keep the truth hidden, the bodies start to pile up. The repo-men are at the funeral home for the furniture, rival Snarr is offering low-ball buyout deals, and – short of engineering more 'accidental' deaths – the pair struggles to keep the business afloat, hide their crimes, and keep their heads above water as various townsfolk grow suspicious (including Roberta's own father who, in small-town tradition, just so happens to be the sheriff).Just Buried revolves around a funeral home, and as you'd expect, death is a central theme. It speaks to director-writer Chaz Thorn's skill that he's able to wring maximum laughs out of a dark theme, but I wouldn't even go so far as to call this one a 'black comedy' (or a dark comedy, since I'm not sure what the official PC-stance on 'black comedy' is). Just Buried is ultimately light-hearted in tone, and with the number of accidental deaths and their varying degree of unlikelihood, it's clear that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. If we're going to call films like The Lobster a black comedy, then Just Buried is a romp, a lark. The stakes are high, but that's only a plot device to give skeleton to the film's muscle and fat: the laughs and character dynamics.Baruchel, naturally, kills it. I don't think I've ever seen a movie of his I didn't like, so maybe I'm biased. But the true credit goes to Byrne; 'whacky' female characters, no matter how well written, can tend to skew towards Manic Pixie Dreamgirl in the bad cases, to annoying, to downright unbelievable in the worst instances. It's not an easy role by any means, but Byrne riffs off the theme perfectly, balancing just the right amount of ridiculous and relatable, snark and serious. Roberta provides Oliver a perfect foil while maintaining her own depth: she has her own stakes and motivations critical to the plot.I wouldn't say Just Buried is my favorite from either actor. Baruchel's best role remains himself in This Is The End, and I like Byrne's dramatics better in films like The Place Beyond The Pines. It's not even in the running for best recent Canadian comedy (of which there are too many to compare).But for a film about a funeral home, it's far more hilarious than I'd have thought possible.
Matt_Layden
After his father dies a young man inherits an old funeral home. The problem is that it isn't getting any business. So he, and the beautiful mortician, decide to kill people from the town to get the business booming. Sound familiar, that's because this is basically a remake of sorts of an old film starring Boris Karloff and Vincent Price called The Comedy of Terrors. This film feels like a mixes dark comedy and horror. There are numerous deaths but all of them are off screen, with the exception of 3. One of which is pretty gruesome. It stars Jay Baruchel and rose Byrne, as the son and mortician. Byrne is pretty sweet here, in her dark and twisted role. Baruchel plays awkward well, and it fits the character here. It's just too bad I wasn't a big fan of this character. I found him annoying and incompetent. The film has a few funny moments, but a lot of it is dark and doesn't get many laughs. It's more concerned for it's characters and morbid story then laughs. The film isn't for everyone and it tends to drag in parts, but for the most part I enjoyed it. It has a good twist and the good outweighs the bad.
merklekranz
This funeral home based dark comedy is somewhat of a rarity. It does not pull any punches, at times is gritty, and resolves itself with quite a satisfying ending. The fact that other than Graham Greene's character, no one will elicit any sympathy just adds to the fun. If you like death as a motivation for personal gain, then "Just Buried" is a must see. The acting and character development is quite good for this limited budget endeavor. It is funny, never boring, and at times unpredictable. The conclusion especially is surprisingly original. I recommend this black comedy for both it's creativity and entertainment value. - MERK
