Death at a Funeral (*½)

Directed by: Neil LaBute

Starring: Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoe Saldana, Peter Dinklage, James Marsden, Columbus Short, Loretta Devine, Keith David, Danny Glover, Tracy Morgan, Peter Dinklage, Regina Hall,Luke Wilson, Kevin Hart

Seen: 27 June 2010

*½ Out of ****

An exact remake of a 2007 British movie by the same name, this version of the story also failed to impress me, but in the case of this one, it failed to impress me even more. The Barnes family patriarch has died, and his will expressly asked for his funeral service being held in his old home. Aaron (Rock), the oldest son, arranges everything and has to deliver the eulogy, much to the disappointment of the rest of the family, who expect his brother Ryan (Lawrence), who is a published writer as opposed to Aaron being an aspiring writer, to eulogise.

Off course the family cannot possibly be normal, as is evidenced when people start showing up. Cousin Elaine (Saldana) brought her boyfriend Oscar (Marsden), but not before picking up her brother Jeff (Short), who is a pharmacology student. When Oscar is concerned about being nervous before dealing with her father, who usually hates him, Elaine gives him a Valium from Jeff’s table, which turns out to be the opposite of Valium, a rather powerful hallucinogenic. Derek (Wilson), Elaine’s father’s first choice for her, whom she hates, is driving with Norman (Morgan), and they have to pick up the exceptionally rude Uncle Russell (Glover), a wheelchair-bound retiree.

The strangest thing however is Frank the dwarf (Dinklage) hanging around near the coffin. How did he know patriarch Barnes, and what dark secrets will he reveal about their beloved father/uncle? Couple this with Oscar’s drugged out state, Norman’s dealings with Uncle Russell, and everyone’s reaction to everything happening, and it is indeed a miracle that things turn out as they do by the end of the movie.

Death at a Funeral is a black comedy (dark humour as well as a mostly black cast this time around) that will not fall in everyone’s taste. The humour ranges from purely scatological (someone literally craps on someone else) to more intelligent and hidden (Danny Glover claiming he’s “Too old for this shit”). I did not enjoy the movie at all, grimacing at a joke only once and cringing (not the good kind) the rest of the time, trying to find a more comfortable way to suffer through this. The only thing to lift the movie up is the conclusion, where Aaron Barnes delivers a rather touching and completely improvised eulogy just as the bubble bursts on everything to have gone wrong. I did not enjoy this movie at all, and it was compound by me trying to enjoy it, as I’ve heard some positive word-of-mouth. Death at a Funeral was better left not remade, as even the original one was never really all that fantastic.