| A Texas Funeral |  | Director: W. Blake Herron
Actors: Quinton Jones, Robert Patrick, Jane Adams, Martin Sheen, Chris Noth
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.12
You Save: $9.86 (99%)
New (7) Used (24) from $0.12
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 56236
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 98
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.4
MPN: D7806D
ISBN: 1589710134
UPC: 658149780620
EAN: 9781589710139
ASIN: B00005AW02
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
Release Date: May 15, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The Southern-gothic psychodrama of old secrets, longtime rivalries, and ancient wounds reopened at a family funeral gets a warm reworking in W. Blake Heron's A Texas Funeral, a gentle variation on the melodramatic standby directed at the easy pace of a Texas drawl. Martin Sheen is at his paternal, gentle best as the deceased patriarch Sparta Whit, who returns in the visions of his grandson and namesake Little Sparta to introduce the boy to the proud and sometimes bizarre history of the Whit family. Robert Patrick and Joanne Whalley costar as Sparta's struggling he-man son and crazy oversexed daughter, respectively, and Chris Noth is the rich cousin quietly shouldering a financial crisis. Heron has a gentle touch with his characters, and his whimsical obsession with camels (the braying "noble steed of the desert warrior") and "the awesome power of the male Whit ear" (which drives members of the opposite sex mad with uncontrollable passion) lightens the family melodrama. It ultimately plays like a too-tidy stage play, where simmering conflicts are swept away with the dawn, but Heron refreshingly discards the traditional screaming confrontations and dish-throwing tantrums for a quietly intimate celebration of family heritage, blood ties, and forgiveness. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews:
Unfolds beautifully . . . leaves you with a smile November 1, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Ok, I admit it. While most kids grew up sucking their thumbs, I was more interested in the ear. It had a soothing quality that would put me to sleep. Needless to say, when I read that this family had an ear fetish, I just had to see what this was all about. No, this movie is not just about sucking an earlobe that belongs to your husband's corpse, though I was laughing so hard during this scene, nor is it just another film trying to come across as artsy with an overdose of weirdness that just cannot seem to blend well. Instead we are presented with a rather strange and different story of a family and their haunting secrets. It captures a well deserved four stars.What was supposed to be a family reunion for the reading of the will, due to Jeremiah Sparta's (Martin Sheen)death, turns out to be a weekend that reveals just how little they all knew about each other. Seen mostly through the eyes of Jeremiah's grandson, who decides to be mute after being told to shut up, we see him interact with Jeremiah and his ancestors in the spirit world. They unload all the juicy tales of the past and it's quite fun to hear all the live folks' interpretation. After the will is read, this sets the stage for everyone's personal struggle with their haunting secrets. With solid performances and an engrossing script, you can't help but be drawn into everyone's life as you see all the anger, pain, jealousy and even an unquenchable fetish dissolve. Definitely a keeper. One you could watch again. Good sound and picture quality too.
a breath of fresh air October 12, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
A wonderful film, by a talented (new?) writer/director. A well crafted, intimate portrait of an old Texas family, it's history, and the ghosts (literally & metaphorically) in the family closet.Fine performances all around. M. Sheem & Robert Patrick are SOLID. Refreshing change from the slick, impersonable films from hollywood these days. I look forward to future films by B. Herron.
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