Review: Coming-of-age ‘Funeral Kings’ doesn’t fully mature
The debut feature from the sibling writing-directing duo of Kevin and Matthew McManus, “Funeral Kings” is a surprisingly sweet story about a pair of Rhode Island Catholic schoolboys, played with knockabout charm by Alex Maizus and Dylan Hartigan.
Charlie (Maizus) and Andy (Hartigan) help out in the chapel as a way to ditch class, hang out and smoke cigarettes. Their lil gangster routines are underscored with braggadocio-heavy rap music, which only highlights how endearingly harmless the boys really are.
Occasionally the boys encounter situations that threaten to turn ugly, but the venerable Kevin Corrigan as a sleazy video store clerk is, in fact, the closest thing the film has to a villain.
The easygoing charm of “Funeral Kings” and its impulse toward honesty over overstatement robs the film of true dramatic tension, and a number of story lines — involving drugs, rivalry, love interests — are left somewhat unresolved.
The McManus brothers seem content to simply focus on Charlie and Andy’s incremental coming-of-age.
-----------------------
“Funeral Kings.” MPAA rating: R for language throughout, sexual references, some drugs, drinking and smoking — all involving kids. Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes. At the Chinese 6, Hollywood.
It's a date
Get our L.A. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
