Movie Review: Death At A Funeral

Right now, for just a few short glorious weeks I have a longer than usual day without kids or puppy and all the responsibility that goes with that, so I’m using that day as “me time.” I drop the puppy off at daycare (yes, he goes to daycare; don’t judge me), come home to exercise and then I have a whole 6 hours to myself. Sometimes I get my hair done or a pedicure or go shopping. I even have enough time to see an early movie and yesterday that’s just what I did.

Monday – Thursday Fork & Screen AMC has $6 movies. If you have never been to this theater in Atlanta, you must try it. Or I’m sure that there are similar theaters where you live as well. The seats are very comfortable, the theater is small and best of all, you can eat a meal while you watch the movie. I had a very good chicken quesadilla, but passed on the alcoholic drink. I was surprised to see that there were at least 14 other people in the movie with me (and they were drinking too). Who goes to the movies on a Tuesday at noon and orders a Cosmopolitan? Apparently many people.

I saw Death At A Funeral.

I was excited to see this movie because of the cast: Loretta Devine, Chris Rock, and Danny Glover among other talented and funny actors. I purposely did not watch any trailers or interviews on morning talk shows because I didn’t want to be tainted. I wish now that I had known what I was getting into because I wouldn’t have gone to see the movie. I did not know that it was a remake of the 2007 British movie of the same time. I saw that movie and liked it. But I did not need to see THE EXACT SAME MOVIE three years later.

The new Death At A Funeral is EXACTLY the same as the original. EXACTLY. Except for the African American cast and references to American culture. And they changed the funeral food to potato salad and macaroni and cheese. Other than that, EXACTLY the same. One of the actors, Peter Dinklage, even has the same role in both movies.

I suppose if you hadn’t seen the original movie a mere three years prior than you might think that this movie was hilarious. Except for Chris Rock; he was wooden and emotionless. I know that he was playing the straight man, but dude, did you have Botox before the shoot? Can you move your face to express some emotion? Martin Lawrence was Martin Lawrence–not that funny, but not horrible, just played; I’ve seen him act like that so many times. Luke Wilson’s character was totally off and if I hadn’t seen the original movie then I would have been confused to why he was even there. James Marsden played the part of the drugged boyfriend perfectly; I enjoyed him. And while I am not a big fan of Tracy Morgan, surprisingly he was my favorite in this movie. He was funny, spot on and didn’t overact. The scene in the bathroom–which almost made me throw up, even though I knew what was coming–was the funniest scene in the movie. I really can’t tell y0u much more than that without spoiling the movie. The hilarity of the movie is in the surprises and exposure of family secrets.

If you haven’t seen the original movie, then perhaps you will like Death At A Funeral. It’s a family comedy (meaning, that it’s about a family–not that you can take your family to see it because the language is about as bad as it can get) and mostly funny. Also, some people, like my husband, don’t “get” british humor and would better appreciate the American version.

But, if you have seen the original movie and liked it, then don’t bother seeing this one. It is almost EXACTLY the same script. And really, who needs to see that bathroom scene again?