Director Neil LaBute’s “Death at a Funeral” falls short as a remake of the 2007 British comedy by the same name. As a shot-for-shot remake of its British predecessor, “Death” moves a disastrous funeral from the home of a proper British family to the center of a dysfunctional black family in the middle of Pasadena, Calif. The details in this shift both make LaBute’s film hilarious, and leave it lacking at the same time. While the film will keep audiences laughing, its lack of comedic ingenuity causes it to drag on as Aaron (Christ Rock), faces one outlandish obstacle after another in his efforts to arrange his father’s funeral.
The film opens with the mortician’s delivery of the wrong body – a minor mishap in comparison to the disasters to follow. As it develops, the film’s disasters cluster around two problematic situations — Peter Dinklage’s appearance as the deceased’s father’s lover who blackmails Aaron and his brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence) for $30,000, and a mislabeled bottle of pharmaceutical-grade hallucinogens that keep falling into the wrong hands.
Switching from the original “Death’s” dry wit, in which humor relied on subdued, conservative Brits dealing with ridiculous events, the American remake is predictable. Audiences will already expect Tracy Morgan to scream and Lawrence to swear. While Rock plays the role of a straight-laced tax accountant aspiring to become an author, Lawrence fails to be humorous in a role that begs for it. Together, their scenes with the likes of Regina Hall and Danny Glover hang on vulgar moments, such as a scene when Morgan’s character Norman gets his hand caught underneath Uncle Russell (Glover) while helping him sit on the toilet, and Aaron’s wife’s continued insistence on trying for a baby before the funeral begins. While many of these situations end up being humorous, they hardly lift the movie out of mediocrity.
Some scenes, such as Uncle Russell’s caning a screaming Morgan are undeniably funny, while others (the afore mentioned bathroom scene) are simply over the top. It is the movie’s insistence on repeating these kinds of far-fetched moments over and over again that causes it to become monotonously repetitive. Its comedic appeal keeps it flowing until the second half, when one begins to wonder how Rock and Lawrence were cast for their roles, as there is not much of anything comedic about them.
Hall’s performance as a nagging wife with a ticking biological clock becomes obnoxious and many of the other characters become more obviously uninspired. Together with Reverend Davis (Keith David), who begins to ask for compensation for his wasted time, audiences might begin to wonder when the funeral is going to start. When it finally does, however, the result is anti-climactic.
Mediocre and uninspired performances, alike, are taken over by a cousin’s (Zoe Saldana) boyfriend Oscar (James Marsden), who shines as a straight-laced guest on an accidental acid trip. Shifting from his role as a typically serious character, Marsden’s performance is without flaw as he takes on one drug-induced antic after another, from wrapping his head in toilet paper to climbing on the roof naked.
Dinklage also shines in his ridiculous role as the gay lover come to claim his due. Playing the same character as he did in the original, Dinklage seamlessly works his way through one comedic scene after another without so much as cracking a smile. His insistence on taking himself seriously while creating one hysterical moment after another works with Marsden’s performance to keep audiences laughing. Marsdon and Dinklage, together, shine against the dull humor of most other characters in the movie.
While “Death at a Funeral” is undeniably funny, its characters, with the exception of Dinklage and Marsden, are lacking in ingenuity and its been-there-done-that humor becomes old by the end of the 90-minute film.
