As funeral entertainments go -- and there are many -- "A Texas Funeral" is fairly good. It's no "Big Chill" nor "Six Feet Under," but it hews to a certain moving spirit.

Martin Sheen is Sparta Whit, a fourth-generation eccentric in Texas, where eccentrics are as common as sagebrush. He dies and his peculiar family comes together to see him off. Among them: a grandson who doesn't speak, a nymphomaniac daughter on a weekend pass from the mental asylum, a nephew who inherited all the wealth Sparta's brother stole from him, and a son with hopelessly high expectations of his family and himself.

Oh, and there's a camel. And a few ghosts.

This film is dark, but funny. It isn't the kind of flick that would thrill theater audiences, and it didn't. But it is a worthy video rental for one of those nights when you need to laugh a little and be reminded your life isn't as bad as it seems.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older