The Mortician (2012)

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.

If there ever was a time for Method Man to credit himself by his real name: Clifford Smith I feel this was the one to do it.Now don't get me wrong I think Method Man doing his thing is great (one of the better rappers turned actors for me) but with this one he truly did commit to do something different. And that's a big reason why I like this movie.He plays a lone-wolf mortician, a bit of an "social reject" if you will who unwillingly becomes dragged into a messy situation involving the local gang-members.The poster makes it look to me like more of a horror movie (which it's definitely not) and the synopsis is not really accurate (although I will try to update it so hopefully that will change).What it is is more of a drama and a character study of the mortician with moments of suspense and even though it has some flaws regarding the script and Method Man's everchanging beard the good most definitely outweighs the bad for me.

First, please forgive me for sounding rather bitter about this movie, however there are some disclosures I must first make about my relationship to the film and its subject mater. I have previously worked as a mortician, having multiple professional qualifications in the field of funeral service, restorative art, and embalming. In the course of my work as a funeral director, embalmer, and mortician, I can say that the "Mortician" character this movie was not a member of any of the aforementioned professions. This would be no different than titling a movie "The Banker" when, in fact, it is about an attorney. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to title the movie,"The Autopsy Technician", "The Morgue Attendant" or something else. The only thing that a mortician and the above mentioned professions have in common is the fact that we work with dead bodies...Very little else. I can also mention that a city morgue in any sizable metropolitan area would be a much larger operation with other skilled technicians and professions, including most importantly, a forensic pathologist to actually perform the autopsy. Everything involving the treatment of human remains, from the removal from the scene of death to the forensic processing is grossly inaccurate, and considering the tone of the movie, I find it quite a disappointment. The acting is respectable, commendable at times. The over-all production quality is quite fine, and story is interesting, but I would expect a considerably higher level of research to have been done before the script was produced.

See it and you'll see what I mean!This film conjures up all the atmospheric nature of New Orleans as a City. It continues the recent great 3D movies which I for one hope continue to dominate action films.The story line is strong & believable and castings has been inspired with The Method Man being an inspired choice. the complexity of the screen play is matched by the visuals which are breath taking at times. New Orleans is one of my favourite cities so this added to the enjoyment for me.Save up your pennies and get your glad rags on to see a bravura performance.