Scenes From The Class Struggle In Beverly Hills (1989)

A wealthy recent widow and former actress (Jacqueline Bisset) must deal with her husband's (Paul Mazursky) funeral while entertaining house guests for a weekend. What should have been a somber weekend turns into a roundelay of sex partners as even the servants get into the act. Written and directed by Paul Bartel (EATING RAOUL), this black comedy is inconsistent. It can't seem to find the right tone as it switches from broad comedy to more naturalistic scenes. For the most part, the comedy bits work but the "sincere" scenes are badly written and played. The same might be said of the cast, some of which are comedy challenged notably Robert Beltran who can't deliver a comedy line to save his life. Others like Wallace Shawn, Ed Begley Jr. and Arnetia Walker (who just about steals the film) know how to punch their lines. There's a slight sordidness to the whole endeavor like Ray Sharkey's bisexual predator forcing himself on people or Bartel's creepy much older man prepping a teenage girl (Rebecca Schaeffer) to be his mistress. But when it gets it right (like the brunch scene), there are chuckles to be had. With Mary Woronov, Barret Oliver, Michael Feinstein and Edith Diaz.