A talented cast is largely sold down the river by director Charlie Peters' script.

'We'll give Dad a wake he'll never forget,' declares doting son Bob Hoskins (whose American accent is not quite so on-the-ball as usual) at the start of this quirky, lightweight black farce set over one weekend in the lives of a distinctly oddball Irish-American family.

Beside Maureen Stapleton, giving good value to the role of the new widow, and Nancy Travis, playing commendably straight as a mysterious stranger at the funeral, the cast also includes Peter Riegert, Teri Polo and Frances McDormand.

All of them capture well their characters' eccentricities. Expect gently humorous, but not side-splitting entertainment from this offbeat caper.