Death at a Funeral
Monday September 13th 2010
Cast: Loretta Devine, Chris Rock, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Martin Lawrence, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, Peter Dinklage, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short
Producer(s): William Horberg, Sidney Kimmel, Laurence Malkin, Chris Rock, Share Stallings
Writer(s): Aeysha Carr, Chris Rock
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 90 minutes
Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/deathatafuneral/
Synopsis:
"Death at a Funeral" is a hilarious day in the life of an American family come together to put a beloved husband and father to rest. As mourners gather at the family home, shocking revelations, festering resentments, ugly threats, blackmail and a misdirected corpse unleash lethal and riotous mayhem.
Review:
Though best-known for his stand-up work in acclaimed HBO specials like Bring the Pain, Never Scared, and Kill the Messenger, funnyman Chris Rock has also found success in both TV and film -- enough, presumably, to allow him the freedom to pursue just about any project he wants. Why he chose to remake Death at a Funeral, an indie comedy from the UK that received a decidedly lukewarm reception when it debuted in 2007, is anybody's guess. Even more perplexing is why Neil LaBute, a brainy director who made his name probing humanity's dark side with acerbic dramas In the Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors, chose to direct it.
Immersed in an ensemble overloaded with comedic dead weight, Rock gets few chances to showcase his caustic wit as Aaron, a levelheaded tax accountant tasked with presiding over a chaotic memorial service for his father. That's because LaBute thinks our time is better spent watching James Marsden make funny faces or hearing Tracy Morgan complain about a skin rash. In fact, almost the entire first half of the film is devoted to the former, with Marsden engaged in a prolonged slapstick routine as a character unwittingly plied with a giant hit of acid. Which is about as funny as it sounds.
Were LaBute not so inordinately focused on Marsden's wearisome bit, he might have found a use for Luke Wilson, whose character is almost completely pointless, or Danny Glover, whose big moment in Death at a Funeral comes as the centerpiece of scat gag that leaves Morgan covered in his feces. Classy! When he isn't soaking in Glover's sh*t, Morgan does little to redeem himself after his Cop Out debacle, lingering perpetually in a sort of comedic limbo, a funny punchline always just out of reach.
Death at a Funeral eventually picks up steam when Rock faces off with Peter Dinklage, playing a would-be extortionist who arrives at the funeral with damaging revelations about the deceased. It's enough to end the film on a high note but not enough to redeem it as a whole. By the time the titular "death" arrived, I'd long ago begun to wonder if it might have been intended as a metaphor, one perhaps signifying the demise of creativity. Or good taste. Or LaBute's career.
Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.
