"Death at a Funeral" is Full of Life
By Dominique Banas -- 04/19/10
Audiences died of laughter at the premiere of the the newly-released comedy "Death at a Funeral." The movie is a remake of the 2007 British black comedy film directed by Frank Oz ("The Muppets", "Star Wars"). The director was Neil Labute ( "Wicker Man", "Lakeview Terrace").
The movie takes place in a Los Angeles suburb where two brothers Aaron Barns (Chris Rock) and Ryan Barns (Martin Lawrence) are united by the death of their beloved father Edward Barns. With their devastated mother Cynthia (Loretta Devine) and dysfunctional family on their hands, the two brothers are forced to work together in order to run the funeral smoothly.
However tension builds between the brothers as Aaron is filled with jealous rage over Ryan's success as a best-selling novelist. When Ryan abandons Aaron to flirt with their young family friend Martina (Regina Nehyn), Aaron is left to handle the madness on his own.
The funeral takes a turn for the worst after their Cousin Elaine (Zoe Saldana) who is eager to impress fiance Oscar, (James Marsden) knocks over his father's casket. This happens after he ingests a powerful hallucinogen that they thought was valium.
Aaron's wife Michelle (Regina Hall) struggles to help Aaron while she is running around trying to satisfy her overbearing mother-in-law. In the mix of it all, family friends Norman (Tracy Morgan) and Derek (Luke Wilson) are left to handle Uncle Russel (Danny Glover) who is a grumpy wheel-chair ridden elder.
The plot takes a turn when Frank Lovett (Peter Dinklage)shows up to the service with his own upsetting demands. He admits to being Edward's special friend and presents photographs as evidence of the secret affair. Lovett threatens to show the pictures to their mother if the brothers do not allocate $30,000 of the will to him.
Many will find that this movie is filled with inappropriate jokes and some informal funeral behavior. This laugh out loud comedy may be a remake but the stellar cast gives it some true American flavor.
Chris Rock is the star and producer. He plays a sarcastic put together man which is a contrast to his usual wise guy comedy. So Rock is given credit for doing that stretch as an actor.
A Frank Oz original is a hard act to follow. This is a remake that cannot be compared to the original. The 2007 version is a British comedy which is infamous for its dry humor. In this not so dry American version, Neil Labute cranks up the raunchiness and volume to make it his own. The screenwriter for both versions is Dean Craig. He failed to refine and tighten parts of the script that had apparent plot issues the first time around.
The plot can be messy and a bit all over the place at times but "Death at a Funeral" will touch the hearts of all dysfunctional families out there. It may even make your family seem not so crazy in comparison.