A Private Function
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Denholm Elliott, Maggie Smith, Michael Palin, Richard Griffiths, Tony HaygarthBrand: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of A Private Function
Movie Review: Clear transfer and great story....
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Palin of Monty Python and 'Fish Called Wanda' fame teams up with Maggie Smith ('Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', 'Room With a View', 'Gosford Park') to form one of the most eccentric married couples in English history. To top it off, the couple live with her mother played by the acctress who portrays the eccentric female vestry member (always knitting and creating strange kitchen concoctions) in the 'Vicar of Dilby' series. Palin is "foot doctor" who spends his days bicycling from house to house in post-War II Yorkshire tending to female patients. In his travels around and about he crosses paths with a syndicate of "business men" who are raising an illegal pig for a "private function" to be held the day the Princess Elizabeth (II) marries.
Following a farcical turn of events, Palin kidnaps the pig named "Betty" planned for the roast. Urged on by Smith's character (pure Maggie), the couple "keep" the pig in their bathroom and try to kill it. Soon enough, the syndicate members discover the kidnapping and are hot on the tail of the missing pig. In the meantime, a zealous copper is hot on their tails.
Other wonderful actors in this romp include Denholm Elliot ('Room With a View'), Alison Steadman ('Singing Dectective', 'Pride and Prejudice'), Pete Postlehwaite ('Name of the Father', 'Brassed Off') and other very familiar faces. An uplifting film, but not suitable for those who are weak of stomach.
Summary of A Private Function
Michael Palin (A Fish Called Wanda) teams with OscarĀ(r) winner* Maggie Smith (Gosford Park) in this uproarious comedy in which 'the laughs come fast (Variety) and the upper class becomes furious! Co-starring Denholm Elliott, Pete Postlethwaite and one divine swine, this hilarious comedy is alive and unruly, [and] the humor keeps boiling up (Pauline Kael, The New Yorker)! Life isn't easy in 1947 Yorkshire, where strict post-war rationing is putting the squeeze on the townspeople. But when a married working-class couple (Palin and Smith) discovers that the town's wealthy elite has been secretly fattening up an illegal pig for their own selfish gluttony, they hatch an outlandish kidnapping scheme that gives new meaning to the phrase bringing home the bacon ! *1969: Actress, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; 1978: Supporting Actress, California Suite
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