Death at a Funeral

As if I didn't have enough discs to watch with reviewing and addictively buying DVDs and BDs maintaining a permanently intimidating 'to watch' pile, I also have an account with Lovefilm to ensure that there is absolutely no occasion where I have nothing to watch. About nine or ten months ago, one of the films I rented was Death at a Funeral which was recommended to me by my brother who had heard good things about it. Given that this was directed by Frank Oz, the man most famous for voicing Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy and whose last directorial effort that I saw was the abysmal remake of The Stepford Wives, I went into this with some trepidation. Such low expectations were completely unwarranted as Death at a Funeral (2007) was the most consistently funny film I had seen in many a month with stellar performances by the entire cast, an incredibly witty script and good direction by Oz.

Fast forward six months and there is a mooted remake that seemed to take the term 'black comedy' very literally and have the remake as an American project with the likes of Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan heading the cast. I missed it at the cinema but was surprised just how well it was critically received in the United States (and in the UK, for that matter) despite word-of-mouth being far from brilliant. Anyway, when the opportunity to review the Blu-ray came about, I didn't hesitate to request the disc and settled down to enjoy a film that should be funny from first minute to last.

As the title suggests, the film takes place at a funeral at which someone dies but the comedy comes from the interactions between various family members, especially an obnoxious and opinionated great-uncle, the two sons, Aaron and Ryan, who really don't see eye to eye as one is a published author who everyone thinks should deliver the eulogy and the other is an aspiring author who, being the eldest, considers delivering the eulogy to be his job. On the way to the big occasion, one of the dead man's nieces calls in on her brother, a pharmacology student, to give him a lift and, whilst the slacker is putting some trousers on, she's trying to calm her boyfriend down as he is panicking about meeting her family. Noticing a bottle of Valium on the table, she persuades him to take one to calm him down -- her mother took them for years. Unfortunately, the contents of the bottle were not that well known sedative but an experimental hallucinogenic concocted by her brother for a friend.

At large funerals, there is bound to be someone that is a distant friend of the deceased who very few people will recognise and, in this case, it is a white dwarf who keeps staring at Aaron. Although they keep trying to talk to one another, something always comes up to drag Aaron away from the mysterious guest and, when an opportunity does arise for them to talk in private, Aaron isn't quite sure whether the man's claim, for which he has photographic evidence, is just a sick joke or was a side to his father that he kept very, very well hidden?


There is nothing particularly clever or highbrow about Death at a Funeral (either version, with this one sticking pretty faithfully to the original) so it all relies on the acting, comedic timing and direction to make the most of the script with its myriad terrific one-liners and quite brilliant comedy situations that will have you either laughing out loud, gagging or both.

Considering the cast in this film and the potential for laughs from the situations in the screenplay, I expected this to be wall-to-wall mirth -- it does, after all, begin when the wrong corpse is delivered to the house. I'm not sure if it was because there are so many stand-up comics who are not afraid to ad lib and improvise lines or just because Neil LaBute is just not a very good comedy director. Oddly, he did direct Nurse Betty but my opinion of him as a filmmaker is somewhat tempered by the fact that he made the remake of The Wicker Man. I'm not really quite sure what it was about this film but I found it utterly devoid of humour, as did my brother and the person who I watched it with (she also thought the original was terrific and bought her own copy a couple of days after watching it with me).


I've never been a big fan of Martin Lawrence films and Chris Rock only tends to be funny when he does his stand-up stuff although I can't say that I have watched every film that he has made. Tracy Morgan, on the other hand, is absolutely brilliant on 30 Rock and other cast members like James Marsden (perhaps best known for Enchanted) and Danny Glover have real pedigree. I don't know what it was but it just left me feeling extremely flat and puzzled at why something that worked so well with a largely British cast and directed by Frank Oz should fail so miserably when made with a cast who have the potential to be absolutely hilarious.

The Disc

Extra Features
The commentary with Neil LaBute and Chris Rock is a bit of an odd one because they aren't in the same room and obviously to synchronise DVD/Blu-ray players with LaBute in LA and Rock on the East Coast. They do talk amiably through the film and point out where the ad-libbed lines are, how some people came to be involved and filming locations with some of its shot on location and the rest on set.

Whilst the commentary was on, I had the movieIQ mode running which isn't the most inspiring use of the Internet connectivity of my PS3 with only a few interesting pieces of trivia and most of it being covered by the commentary track itself. Still, if you want to know more about the actors and crew members or what music is playing, you might enjoy flicking around through the different options on the movieIQ window whilst watching this again or whilst the commentary is on.

The eight deleted scenes (7:13, SD) are a combination of deleted and extended scenes that can be watched individually or together using the 'play all' function. None of them are particularly funny or really demand reinsertion.

The gag reel (2:37, SD) is just one of those compilation sequences of when actors lose it, forget their lines or try to improvise and fail. These generally aren't particularly funny and this is not an exception to the rule. The fact that it finishes with a montage of people's cell phones ringing during the shoot and being charged $100 perhaps sums it up very well.


Death at a Funeral: the Last Rites, Dark Secrets (20:11, HD) is a fairly typical EPK making of with members of the cast and crew talking about what a great job everyone did, why they were attracted to the project and what a joy it was to make the film. One of the most telling quote comes from Chris Rock when he says the film 'isn't so much a remake as a cover version' and it certainly has that tendency to be inferior to the original version.

Family Album (11:00, HD) basically involves each of the actors talking about their characters, what they are like and how they fit into the family tree. It really isn't that enlightening as you can guess most of the information whilst watching the film.

Death for Real (5:55, HD) just involves members of the cast and crew talking about death and how does such a universal concept which is why the film should appeal to just about everybody. It feels like EPK material such is the rather glossy and superficial nature of the piece.

Finally, there are trailers for other Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases Armored, The Bounty Hunter and Grown Ups plus the Blu-ray Disc™ is High Definition show reel.


The Picture
Espousing the virtues of a high definition transfer of a film only a matter of weeks at the end of its theatrical run is now becoming increasingly redundant and it only a case of pointing out where there are flaws rather than why it looks so brilliant. In any case, this is an absolutely top drawer picture with deep contrast levels, superb colours, excellent skin tones and crisp edges. It was shot in high definition using the Sony/Panavision Genesis camera (a practical rather than aesthetic choice) which tends to be seen as the best around when it comes to digital cameras and it has made the transition from big to small screen flawlessly.

One of the really odd parts about the film is the house which looks just like a funeral home with extremely drab wallpaper, carpets and big, ominous rooms. The room in which the funeral will be held isn't the sort of place you will find in every house as there is room for a coffin, a priest and a congregation of about 50 people!


The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track does exactly what I expected which was delivered the dialogue clearly and crisply with absolutely no signs of hiss, crackle or other detritus on the soundtrack which is just as impressive as the visual aspect.

The score is only notable because it is so unspectacular and is just sort of 'there' in the background rather than driving the narrative, underscoring the humour or heightening the emotional aspects of the plot.

As per usual with an SPHE release, there is a decent selection of audio and subtitling options in various languages including an English audio descriptive track and English HoH subtitles to cater for the visually impaired and hard of hearing.


Final Thoughts
It seems as if this will split audiences right down the middle with some who will think it is one of the funniest films they have ever seen and others who will just sit there stonefaced for the entire running time wondering when they will be given something to laugh about. I fall firmly into this latter category and have absolutely no idea why it is rated so highly by so many respected critics. The only saving grace is Peter Dinklage who reprises his role from the original, albeit slightly darker and edgier and once again convinces me that he is one of the finest actors currently working.

This remake of Death at a Funeral just didn't work and I would advise you to do yourself a favour and pick up the (unbelievably cheap) DVD of the British version instead.