Movie Review - "Death At A Funeral"

DEATH AT A FUNERAL

Directed by: Neil LaBute

Starring: Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, James Marsden, Luke Wilson, Danny Glover, Zoe Saldana

Every now and then, a movie will try to nail the very thin ice of dark humor without breaking it. Nine times out of ten, the ice shatters explosively. But when that 10% works, it can rock your socks off. Chris Rock's "Death At A Funeral", a remake of the 2007 original which I have not seen so I have no bias in reviewing this, may leave a crack; but it's star-studded cast packs so much energy and off the wall humor that despite its shortcomings, Funeral was, for me at least, a blast.

A lot of people think that because of the mostly African American cast, this was just going to be a cheap rip-off, and just another "Tyler Perry" movie. Well I am glad to tell all of those people, whether you like the movie or not, you're flat out wrong.

Try and stay with me: Chris Rock's dad recently passed. He's coping with that on top of his wife pressuring him for a baby, and his narcissistic brother, played by Martin Lawrence, is in town and trying to steal the spotlight once again. His cousin, played by Zoe Saldana, is eager for her boyfriend (James Marsden) to make a better impression on her father than he has in the past, but that backfires when her brother, meaning to give him Valium to calm him down, gives him some kind of LCD substitute and sends him on an acid trip. Luke Wilson, a family friend and ex-boyfriend of Zoe Saldana is eager to win her back. Tracy Morgan plays another family friend who must keep watch over the nutty uncle, played by Danny Glover. Throw in a neurotic mother and you have Death At A Funeral. Oh, yeah, and a white midget shows up claiming to be Rock's father's lover and is threatening with blackmail.

So, how in the hell does this all go down? You'll have to see for yourself, and I strongly urge that you do. Because the ride is a wild one that will leave you breathless from laughing.

Now, the film is not perfect. It does have some jokes that fall short, and not necessarily every scene works as the director may have intended it to, with many of the scenes being over or underdone. It's extremely dark and emotionally blunt tone will leave many audiences bored and/or offended. But as I said before, the cast brings such a pleasurable, ecstatic force to the story, that even in the most ridiculous of events (and this movie really gets ridiculous), they make everything seem perfectly plausible in the weird world these characters live in. This funeral is shockingly alive.

B+