i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Blistering performances.

The Mortician (Method Man) is a shy dysfunctional man. His social life consists of a prostitute he visits for off screen sex. He speaks as little as possible. He has a second job/hobby as a taxidermist. In spite of what seems as two incomes, he lives in a run down place where he walks to work past buildings that look like they are in a war zone. I don't think the name of the city is mentioned. I suspect Memphis as he travels to Almaville, Tn.Our Mortician has flashbacks to his youth which intensify when they bring in a dead woman with an elaborate tattoo of Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus, a painting which hung in his home as a child.Meanwhile he has a "porter" (E.J. Bonilla) who is on parole and acts like a thug. There is a young boy who has witnessed a murder and is a person of interest to the killer.The film goes on with very little action until one scene...and then it is about over. The movie was dull. The small boy's life is supposed to mirror the mortician's life as a child. That was not enough to make for an entertaining movie. The editing was poor.N-word, F-bomb, brief sex, no nudity. Deals with prostitution.

Totally not what was expected. Much better than i could have predicted! I would have given this movie a 10, but i sat down thinking i was going to be watching a horror movie and to me this was not a horror movie. There was lots of grit and excitement! By the end of the movie, i found myself crying, but thoroughly enjoying the film! Very touching and heartwarming. All the characters were believable. Method man was superb! I would definitely recommend this movie and i will watch it again in the near future!

Bathing in urban squalour and decay, this Method Man starring feature may not be what you might expect. Meth (as fans of the Wu Tang Clan affectionately refer to him) plays an awkward, ambling outsider who as the title suggests, works at the city morgue. He shuffles two and from work with his head hanging low. A man of few words, his hours away from the corpses are spent practicing his taxidermy skills and cuddling a friendly prostitute.Continually harassed by some of the most unconvincing hoodlums that have ever been committed to celluloid (there are literally millions of people out there who could fit the role of 'Thug #4', so why filmmakers feel the consistent need to draw incredibly fake tattoos on supporting actors is beyond me). These rough kids from the wrong side of the street make his life miserable (in a pretty non-threatening way, truth be told) and we can see that he's a man who may soon crack.This is where the trouble begins, primarily and most significantly, Method Man is wholly unsuitable for this part. Method Man is wholly unsuitable for most parts in which he is required to do anything other than be Method Man. He is not a good actor and in this, his lack of ability is accentuated tenfold. The film was shot in 3D for reasons which are far beyond my comprehension, for it is a melodrama. The last time I checked, melodramas were not top of the list on 3D. Shall I await the extended reboot of Ulee's Gold 3D? On Golden Pond 3D? The Erotic Adventures of Harold & Maude 3D? Anyway, I digress. Meth is a wonderful personality; an entertainer and (occasionally) a great rapper. None of these skills, however, are required or suitable for the role of a bookish, bullied, meek individual. Every time the camera zooms in on him, the viewer gets the impression that he's thinking; 'this is my acting face'.It's not just the acting that's at fault here, the sets are well utilized and do give a strong sense of deterioration within a working class environment, which is a theme which could have been explored in greater depth within the film. Meth's old time dress sense is a nice touch, but his outfits look so pristine that they are clearly taken from the set dresser's rail. He looks like a man who has been dressed for a role and this only makes him more awkward in his appearance, and not in the manner of which he desires. The shrugs and stooped gait are not enough for the character to become real to us. He also keeps walking around a lot and looking at things. This happens in most films, but the problem with this is that for the first 30 minutes, this is about all you get.You get drawn into his facial expressions so much because there's so little else to focus on.Then something happens (which I won't go into for now) and the appearance of Edward Furlong (looking so tired and haggard that my viewing companion thought it was Rob Schneider) and Wendell Peirce (The Wire, Treme) brings a short lived bout of excitement (but they are both gone again as soon as they appear, not to be heard from again at all really). Peirce's use of the word 'laddybuck' remains the film's highlight for me.The main antagonist starts to turn the heat up on Meth as he drives around listening to the same Method Man song on his car stereo. He is listening to the same song in every scene that he has in the car and it becomes both somewhat irritating and unnecessary.By the time something does happen, the filmmakers have clearly decided that we need to be informed of this (as most will have fallen asleep) and so they blast some of the worst 'suspense' music I've heard used in a long time. There are also extended sax solos at some of the depressing scenes which can only help to lighten the mood. I love sax solos, especially when they are used to highlight the severity of a situation or the revelation of a chilling back-story. The film gets bonus points for this.You spend so much time for Meth to revert to gangsta mode and start busting heads. I will let you find out for yourself how, when and if this actually happens at all. The levels of melodrama in this range from the acceptable to the soap opera and so it's hard to be overly enthusiastic about this film. It would have made a good short, or an episode of a TV show, but as a feature length, it becomes a chore to get through. It's fine, but as we all speed towards our own tenure on the mortician's slab, we should probably aim for better than 'fine'.Read more at zombiehamster.com

I recently attended a private screening of the film The Mortician in 3D directed by Gareth Roberts of Full Circle Films, a UK company. It stars Method Man in the lead role of the nameless Mortician, an introvert. The Mortician made its public debut at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 12, 2011, although not to rave reviews if you are a reader of Variety and Obsessed With Film, an obscure website. Both disliked the film, yet both reviews lacked any literary analysis concerning plot, theme, structure and the use of techniques such as flashback that assist the plot in creating and resolving the Mortician's internal and external conflicts.The plot of The Mortician has breadth and depth. Gareth introduces the Mortician through a series of chance meetings, meticulous work habits and a decaying city allowing Method Man to display his interpretation of the introverted Mortician. Method's performance is convincing as he dons a full beard, over-sized glasses and a bowler hat to assist his acting skills in physically depicting the meek Mortician. His facial expressions, soft spoken tone, and demure carriage were well placed throughout. The sequence of events changes tempo when the corpse of a young woman, Jenny, played by Judy Marte, is brought to the Mortician's morgue. As the Mortician cleans her body in preparation for the autopsy he notices a tattoo of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, which begins the rising action - a series of flashbacks hearkening the Mortician to his upbringing with a single mother, who unbeknownst to him as a child was a prostitute. The use of the flashback technique was masterful (compare it with Bordertown) as it becomes the catalyst through which the internal conflict is developed and is ultimately resolved through and with the external conflict.The external conflict centers around Kane, a young boy played by Cruz Santiago. Kane is trying to gain access to the morgue but is turned away by the Mortician. The Mortician notices that Kane is living on the street and being manhandled by the Mortician's assistant, Noah, played by EJ Bonilla and is also being hunted by the local gang leader Carver, played by Dash Mihok. Despite knowing the dangers Kane faces, the Mortician is unable and unwilling to intervene as he goes about his predictable introverted routine seeking interaction only with his regular prostitute, Ava, played by Dana Fuchs. The irony here is that the Mortician's relationship with Ava represents goodness and light amongst the decaying and violent city. Moreover, Gareth's choice of tastefully depicting this relationship reinforces this paradox.The Mortician's flashbacks coupled with his awareness of Kane's plight ultimately propel him to intercede on Kane's behalf and introduces us to the film's main theme - redemption. The redemptive power of reconciliation, forgiveness, and understanding are underscored through the Mortician's metamorphosis from an apathetic android to a caring human bringing us to the climax of the film, which has several interesting twists and turns.It is likely the 3D aspect probably boosted the funding of the film, but its value will probably be lost on a generation whose only association with 3D has been animation or action films, not drama. While The Mortician does have some significant action scenes, it is not enough to appease the expectation of 3D audiences. With that said, however, the use of 3D in this film did work quite well in bringing the setting to life and in the emotional close ups of the characters. The Mortician is a well told story that will draw you in emotionally, pique your interest and impress upon you the power of redemption.