In 2007, a small but funny British comedy called Death at a Funeral was released with little fanfare and even smaller box-office returns. In the year 2010, some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to move the story and one of its main actors to Hollywood and throw more talent than you would see at an awards show at it. Oh and to make it a black thing.
Death at a Funeral tells the story of a family of oddballs coming together to bury their recently deceased father. Chris Rock plays Aaron, the doting son who takes charge of the funeral while all around him try as hard as they can to ruin what should be a solemn day. Amongst the obstacles are his crotchety grandfather, annoying younger brother, white best friend and insanely broody wife (Zoe Saldana doing her bit). Just when it looks like nothing else can go wrong, a mysterious short person turns up with a wee secret that threatens to ruin the day.
You know the inmates have taken over the asylum when a film that’s only three years old is remade and fitted out with a decent A-list cast in the hope of cashing in with “star powerâ€. The fact that the film in question is actually an English language movie shows that Hollywood is A. Desperate, B. Devoid of original ideas or C. Lazy. Normally, Hollywood looks for foreign films to butcher but I’d hazard a guess that someone saw the very funny original directed by Frank Oz (voice of Yoda) and thought they could do better, but sadly they failed.
Stereotyping
Death at a Funeral 2010 fails on many levels but the most glaring is that it’s just not that funny. The original had the “stiff upper lips†of the Brits to poke fun at whereas the remake goes for the cheap shots of black stereotyping (basically anything Martin Lawerence says).
For what seems the first time in his career Rock plays the straight guy and carries it off. It’s just a shame he wasn’t given better material. The rest of the cast (Tracy Morgan, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover) are wasted and by the time Peter Dinklage (playing the same role as in the original) turns up, the whole thing has turned into a farce.
In the positive column, director Neil La Bute (Company of Men is a MUST see, the Wicker Man remake is NOT) is starting to turn a corner that will hopefully have him directing top projects sometime soon after the terrible run he’s had.
Not to harp on but if you want to enjoy Death at a Funeral, rent the original.
Andrew Kennedy
