Death At A Funeral boasts an all-star cast that includes Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Regina Hall, Peter Dinklage (How To Become A Tyrant), James Marsden, and Zoe Saldana. Based on, you guessed it, a funeral. Aaron and Ryan's father has passed away and insisted on the service taking place at home. The two brothers don't see each very often and tensions run high as they both try to make the proceedings so as smoothly as possible.
But of course this is a comedy, so nothing goes to plan. Cousin Elaine (Saldana) brings her boyfriend (Marsden) who is so nervous that he takes what he thinks is valium. It's not. It's actually acid and soon poor Oscar is tripping off his head and generally making a nuisance of himself. As if that wasn't enough, Frank (Dinklage) shows up at the service and tells Aaron (Chris Rock, Spiral) that he was his father's lover – complete with pictures. With the threat of Frank telling their mother, the brothers agree to pay Frank the $30K he wants to keep quiet.
But even that doesn't work out and soon Frank is tied up while the family figures out what to do with him. Suffice to say everything about Death At A Funeral is OTT. But in true Chris Rock style, it has enough humour and family dysfunction to make it very watchable. It is a re-make of a British movie of the same name and was panned for not being as good as the original. However, if you haven't seen the original film, there's absolutely nothing to stop you from really enjoying Chris Rock's version.
There's a lot happening in Death At A Funeral and while most of the comedy comes from the chaos, it's also a bit too much at times. The script just bounces from one character to another, each in an increasingly ridiculous scenario. Seriously, there are only so many times a character can take acid instead of valium before the joke loses its value!
That said, if you're looking for a half-decent comedy then this could be just the ticket. It's a screwball Chris Rock movie with enough banter and wit to pass the time nicely.
