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SYNOPSIS: When
the patriarch of a dysfunctional family dies, his funeral
turns into a family circus. Misplaced bodies, blackmail, indecent
exposure and a corpse that won't stay in the box gets the
party started but when old family skeletons start tumbling
out of the closet, all Hell breaks loose.
MOVIE
REVIEW:
If you need a lesson in the difference between American and British comedy, then this remake of the 2007 British farce of the same name is a good case in point. Those who have seen the Frank Oz original would have loved the dry wit and sharp satire that ensued when a stiff upper-lip family in England is reunited by the death of one of their members. This American remake by Neil LaBute, also written by Dean Craig, relocates the premise to Southern California, where the reunion is among family and friends of a black middle-class patriarch.
See, it wouldn’t have worked if the producers of this remake had simply transplanted the entire movie line-by-line, gag-by-gag from one continent to the other- no, that wouldn’t just be culturally erroneous, it would have made this movie utterly unnecessary. Instead, this comedy wisely opts to replace laconic English wit with broad American screwball comedy, and in doing so, ensures that this remake earns its own fair share of fans outside of the original’s.
Of course, the all-star cast would already have made sure of that. There’s Chris Rock playing Aaron, the older son of the deceased, Martin Lawrence as his younger brother Ryan, Keith David as the preacher of the ceremony, Loretta Devine as the widow of the deceased, Danny Glover as the spitfire Uncle Russell, Tracy Morgan as their family friend Norman, Zoe Saldana as the niece of the deceased Elaine, Luke Wilson as Elaine’s ex-boyfriend Derek, James Marsden as Elaine’s current boyfriend Oscar and Columbus Short as Elaine’s brother Jeff. Whew, if that list doesn’t read like a who’s who of comedic talents in Hollywood, I don’t know what else would.
Packing so many characters into the span of a 90-minute movie would necessarily mean that each doesn’t get too much screen time to themselves, but credit goes to each and every one of the cast for keeping up the energy of the film every step of the way, so that it never once feels bloated or confusing. Certainly deserving of credit too is director Neil LaBute, who capably juggles parallel action from one scene to another that could easily have turned muddled and unwieldy in the hands of a lesser director.
And to be sure, there is a lot going on at the same time. Aaron and Ryan bicker over who is the more eligible candidate to deliver the eulogy. Oscar gets high on a homemade pharmaceutical from Jeff accidentally fed to him by Elaine. The 4-foot tall secret lover (Peter Dinklage reprising his role from the original) of the deceased appears with damning shots and demands money from Aaron. Derek pesters Elaine to get back together with him while she is busy trying to make sure that the freaked out Oscar doesn’t do anything stupid. Never once however does the movie feel too frenetic for its own good; rather, the pace is brisk, the tone consistently jolly and the jokes continuously hilarious.
It goes without saying that there will be detractors who prefer the British original to this American remake- and that’s fine, since there will also certainly be those who prefer this remake over the original. Comparing one against the other however isn’t exactly fair- the premise may be the same, but the style of comedy is different. Opting for broad screwball gags, this remake still is an uproarious farce that will convince you that there can be a very funny side to death itself.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
First up is the informative and interesting audio commentary with director Neil LaBute and actor/producer Chris Rock. Neil LaBute dominates most of the commentary with Chris chipping in from time to time- but Neil seems genuinely nice and willing to share all the little details that went into filming the individual scenes. Even in this commentary, it’s clear the two enjoyed the process of working together.
There are seven “Deleted Scenes”, none of which are particularly funny in their own right and were probably wisely excised from the final cut of the film. The “Gag Reel” is especially hilarious for Tracy Morgan trying to put on his Bluetooth earpiece- a fact which Neil LaBute shares in his commentary as well.
Three featurettes round up the extras on this disc. The first, “Death at a Funeral: Last Rites, Dark Secrets” talks about the casting of the film and how the individual actors bring their own comedic styles to bear on the various characters. “Family Album” has the actors talking about their roles in the movie. And finally “Death for Real” has them talking about their opinion about death, for real.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The movie is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 though there isn’t much for your back speakers to do in this dialogue-heavy movie. Dialogues are presented crisp and clear though, which is probably most important. Visuals are also clean throughout, and the transfer preserves the vivid colours of the film.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 1 August 2010
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