The Estate Review : Dark Comedy Flops Hard
Toni Collette and Anna Faris play unlucky sisters who attempt to gain from their wealthy aunt's will in the dark comedy The Estate. The Estate's director and Death at a Funeral screenwriter Dean Craig now involved, which increases interest in the already intriguing idea. However, this is a dreadfully unfunny endeavour that falls short of the movie's one and only goal.
The Estate centres on Macey (Collette) and Savanna (Faris), two sisters who, among other things, are dealing with financial difficulties. Their Aunt Hilda (Kathleen Turner), however, turns out to be the cash cow they badly need to bleed dry as they prepare to fight for their family business. The sisters run into more opportunistic family members as their plan takes shape. When Macey and Savanna try to become friends with Hilda, they discover that Hilda's problems could be resolved if she fulfilled a long-held wish. With that as the plot's foundation, comedy should have followed, but alas, my dear reader, it does not.
Both Colette and Faris have experience acting in comic roles, but Faris is more prone to doing so. Although the actresses put a lot of effort into making The Estate work, the script's severe lack of humour holds them back. There is a sense that this is trying to be a dark comedy with edge, but it is too formulaic and unoriginal to be anything but that. The supporting cast of the movie, which includes David Duchovny and Rosemarie DeWitt, is underused, so aside from the headliners, there isn't much to say about them.
The whole casting is an excellent example of how little effort is made to create a dynamic ensemble and how hollow the writing is for the characters. Collette has a long history of being a wonderful supporting actor, so it's possible that she would have worked better as a cunning sidekick rather as the protagonist who struggles with the sisters' moral conundrum. However, Kathleen Turner and her recognisable gruff voice are squandered. She is a woman who doesn't require much to make people laugh out loud, yet she still manages to flounder. How poorly these actresses are used throughout this supposed comedy cannot be overstated.