Death at a Funeral (2010)
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 132
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 78
It's amusing and it assembles a talented cast, but Neil LaBute's surprisingly faithful remake of the 2007 Frank Oz dramedy ultimately falls short of the original.
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 12
It's amusing and it assembles a talented cast, but Neil LaBute's surprisingly faithful remake of the 2007 Frank Oz dramedy ultimately falls short of the original.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 101,558
My Rating
Movie Info
Frank Oz's 2007 black comedy Death at a Funeral is given the remake treatment with an urban spin in this Chris Rock-produced production. When a dysfunctional clan reuintes to mourn the passing of the family patriarch, a respectful funeral quickly turns into an all-out fiasco marked by bitter resentment, blackmail attempts, and scandalous revelations. Dean Craig penned the script for director Neil LaBute (The Wicker Man), with Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, and Danny Glover co-starring. ~ Jeremy
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Cast
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Keith David
Reverend Davis -
Loretta Devine
Cynthia -
Peter Dinklage
Frank -
Ron Glass
Duncan -
Danny Glover
Uncle Russell -
Regina Hall
Michelle -
Kevin Hart
Brian -
Martin Lawrence
Ryan -
James Marsden
Oscar -
Tracy Morgan
Norman -
Chris Rock
Aaron -
Zoe Saldana
Elaine -
Columbus Short
Jeff -
Luke Wilson
Derek -
Regine Nehy
Martina -
Bob Minor
Edward -
Alexander Folk
Middle Aged Man -
Leslie Rivers
Older Lady -
Bronwyn Hardy
Mourner #1 -
Willi Willis
Mourner #2 -
Jamison Yang
Asian Man -
Betty K. Bynum
Woman Mourner
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Death at a Funeral Trailer & Photos
All Critics (132) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (79) | DVD (6)
Although it still only just gets away with sundry homophobic and size-ist gags, there's a tad more zing than the original, though if you caught that already, be warned: this is a scene-for-scene retread.
Top CriticI like the cast.
I like this new one mainly because of the cast.
So much sameness, yet so fewer laughs.
Think of Death at a Funeral as a comic quickie. As it presses buttons, a few laughs come out, but that's all there is to it.
The stellar cast is wasted on scatological humor, running jokes that are run straight into the ground, and corpse-centered slapstick that's less inspired than "Weekend at Bernie's."
What we end up with here is the most pointless remake since Gus Van Sant made his shot-for-shot remake of "Psycho" back in 1998.
A funny film, but it's not one that I found myself growing passionate about as I watched.
If the film is so close to the original as to also be pretty much disposable once its over, at least it as well serves up a healthy amount of laughs during its very brief and brisk run time.
A little more tweaking for the actual actor's voices to come through, instead of trying to put them into pre-concieved places, may have worked better, but on the whole, it's still an excellent example of how the ensemble comedy should work.
The only scene in which the audience noticeably reacted to the film's efforts to extract some belly laughs came in the depressingly derivative poo jokes.
...a perfectly watchable piece of work...
It's almost a checklist of things I don't like, but it won me over in its opening minutes and never let go.
The component that stayed mostly the same is the writing, which is bad news to me, since my main beef with the original movie was exactly that.
What will creatively-bankrupt Hollywood think of next?
Post-mortem grossout, bawdy bereavement, laugh-out-lewd feces fun and games, and a little gay dwarf tossing as a served up side order of midget mockery. Not a movie to die for.
Cinema.com: Post-mortem grossout, bawdy bereavement, laugh-out-lewd feces fun and games, and a little gay dwarf tossing as a served up side order of midget mockery. Not a movie to die for."
The British film wasn't much better. But, beleive me, it was easier to watch than this loud mess.
Avoid at all costs.
LaBute and his cast seem to be revelling in the opportunity to indulge in the kind of lazy farce so beloved of unambitious British cinema.
Depends very heavily on the worryingly unfunny idea of accidentally consuming hallucinogenic drugs, though I have to admit there are a few crassly funny moments...
An undistinguished remake of a crude black comedy.
Overall, it's better than the original -- although that's not saying much.
Audience Reviews for Death at a Funeral
Super Reviewer
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- Norman: You still smokin' that stuff?
- Derek: No no no, I'm gonna stop, all right? *You* used to smoke, we used to smoke *together*.
- Norman: I used to piss my pants and then I stopped!
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- Jeff: He got in a fight with the table, and the table won.
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- Ryan: Well she may be in 12th grade, but that ass is in grad school.
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- Elaine: You're going to be a father.
- Oscar: I'm pregnant?
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- Aaron: You've got Jackie Chan in there!
- Mourner #1: Ahh shit!
- Aaron: You can't turn up here with the wrong bodies! This isn't Burger King. You can't just mess up my order!
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- Uncle Russell: Hey, let me tell you something about women. Smarter than you think they are, but not nearly as smart as *they* think they are.
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Foreign Titles
- Sterben will gelernt sein (DE)
- Un funeral de muerte (ES)
Honestly there's nothing wrong with Death At A Funeral that stands out particularly. A sigh of relief considering most Hollywood remakes bring shame to their inspirations. Either way it isn't bad but rather dissapointing, it boasts such a good cast. However the comic talent is far too restrained and frequently underused. It never really rises above the level of simple amusement, and has got very little that stands out, not only from comedy movies in general but also the original film it's based on. The fact that you can't really say much about it goes to show how unremarkable it is. There are a few laugh out loud moments, but the bottom line is despite engaging performances it lacks ambition and true comedic energy to work as a whole.