DEATH AT A FUNERAL

I loved the 2007 British film Death at a Funeral. I did not, however, love this American remake.

And I say that as someone who normally enjoys Martin Lawrence movies. Alas.

Plot-wise, this 2010 incarnation is identical to the original: assorted members of a big family reunite to bury their recently expired patriarch. Eldest brother Aaron (Chris Rock) is trying to keep everything running smoothly while struggling with performance anxiety about his eulogy, but finds his efforts repeatedly thwarted by one mishap or disaster after another.

In attendance are Aaron’s successful-author brother, Ryan (Martin Lawrence); their cousins Elaine (Zoe Saldana) and Jeff (Columbus Short), who are trying to keep a lid on the fact that Elaine’s boyfriend (James Marsden) accidentally ingested hallucinogens; Elaine’s ex (Luke Wilson) and his best friend (Tracy Morgan), who are assigned caretaker duty to crotchety, foul-mouthed Uncle Russell (Danny Glover); and a mysterious guest (Peter Dinklage, inexplicably reprising his role from the original) ready to spill a big secret about the deceased.

Like its British source material, the film – rewritten to tweak dialogue towards American audiences and pepper it with needless pop-culture references – is an over-the-top farce filled with plenty of slapstick, shenanigans and potty humor. But unlike the original, in which the innately insane situations challenged the sanity of the (comparatively) restrained characters, this version features an array of performances screechingly amped up to 11 from the get-go... which, in turn, actually takes away from the absurdity of what’s going on around them. There’s no contrast: it’s all madness all the time.

Well, almost all the time. Also problematic is Chris Rock. He’s a very, very funny man... but a great actor, he isn’t. Aaron is one-note – and that note is annoyed – from start to finish, and I think Rock mistakenly delivers “flat” instead of “stoic” or “frustrated” or “grief-stricken.” There’s nothing in his performance that makes me believe the death of his father is anything more than an inconvenience, which sucks any emotional resonance out of the proceedings.

Now, having said all that, I did laugh out loud a few times. Tracy Morgan is great, and turns in an appropriately hysterical-in-every-sense-of-the-word performance worthy of the original’s Andy Nyman (who was equally successful in the role of pooped-upon minion). And James Marsden proves that someone hepped up on drugs of indeterminate origin is a plot device that can still work in the right hands.

Regardless of whether Death at a Funeral needed to be remade, it was. Fine. I just wish the filmmakers had decided to improve upon the original instead of half-heartedly recycling it.