'Funeral Kings'

• SXSW Film

  Daily reviews and interviews

• Hurts So Good

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• From the Eyes of the Abused

  BY BELINDA ACOSTA

• 'Wonder Women!: The Untold Story of American Superheroines'

  BY ROBERT FAIRES

• 'The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• 'Kid-Thing'

  BY ASHLEY MORENO

• 'Brooklyn Castle'

  BY NORA ANKRUM

• 'Bad Brains: Band in DC'

  BY JOSH ROSENBLATT

• 'Small Apartments'

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

• 'V/H/S'

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• 'The Source'

  BY NORA ANKRUM

• 'Chasing Ice'

  BY NORA ANKRUM

• 'Sunset Strip'

  BY MARC SAVLOV

• 'Under African Skies'

  BY JOSH ROSENBLATT

• 'Funeral Kings'

  BY NORA ANKRUM

• 'Documentary Shorts 1'

  BY LEAH CHURNER

• 'Documentary Shorts 2'

  BY LEAH CHURNER

• 'Modus Anomali'

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• 'Crazy Eyes'

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

• 'Scarlet Road'

  BY KATE X MESSER

• 'Lost and Sound'

  BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER

Funeral Kings

    It's not easy being 14, or at least not for Charlie (Maizus), who'll do seemingly anything to prove he's not "just a kid." At first, that just means stealing communion wine and devising elaborate ruses to snag porn from the local video store, pastimes afforded Charlie and his best friend, Andy (Hartigan) – both altar boys – whenever there's a funeral, which allows them to cut class. But as Charlie grows increasingly disgruntled, the boys' penchant for mischief approaches mayhem. Funeral Kings is the first feature for brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus, who said they wanted to explore "what it's like to be 14 ... to have a lot more bark than bite." They build a genuine tension between that bark and bite while drawing moments of real comedy from their young stars. It also doesn't hurt that their command of the script's "ripe language" (in the parlance of the McManus brothers' aunt, a nun) rivals Glengarry Glen Ross.

Friday, March 16, 1:45pm, Alamo Ritz