Death at a Funeral

Synopsis

An American family comes together over the death of a beloved husband and father. Unfortunately, nothing goes as planned at the funeral, especially after the deceased' 4ft something secret male lover blackmails his sons for $30K or else he will unleash shocking photos of him and their father.

Review

Okay, I just have to begin with the "get real." Why bring, no... why was there allowed to be a baby at a screening of this movie? First of all it's not that the baby can chat it up with his baby friends like the Etrade commercial. The baby can't give "word of mouth." Get real now.

Anyhoo, Death at a Funeral has a great full ensemble cast of funny folks. Check out this list, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, Loretta Devine, Regina hall, James Marsden, Zoe Saldana, Luke Wilson, Martin Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Columbus Short, Regina Hall and many more. Do you see what I'm saying? It's worth going to see just for all of them together.

Death brings an American family all together to mourn the loss of a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. The departed' eldest son Aaron (Chris Rock) mainly puts the funeral together while his brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence) is busy checking out young booty. Sadly, nothing goes as planned due to a naked man running around high on acid after he thought he only took some valium, a grumpy old uncle, brother rivalry and a blackmailer who is around 4 feet tall demands $30K from Aaron or he'll release pictures of his father and him clearly showing them as lovers. There is just straight up pandemonium going on.

This flick had a very lengthy set up and a lot of scenes I'm sure due to such a large cast. What a wild funeral. I couldn't imagine something so crazy. After a while the film felt a bit manufactured and stretched out, however, the movie was shorter than what it felt. I hadn't realized before I saw the movie that it was an adaptation of a British film that came out in 2007 of the same name. I'm not sure where I've been, but you best believe that film is at the top of my Netflix queue. British comedies are funny as heck.

I like the premise, the jokes were funny, Martin Lawrence could have done a bit better. I think Craig Robinson would have fit in real well in this comedy. Martin seemed like he was thinking, "Yo, just give me the lines I'll deliver them, give me my check and I'm out." That is the vibe I got from him.

Tracy Morgan as Norman did his thing. He was real funny. I swear he loves saying the word doo doo. I saw him at the Improv one time and oh my word..he was NASTY and I didn't like him whatsoever. I will say, he was good in this flick and he had good chemistry with Luke Wilson whose character was Tracy's childhood friend. Luke as Derrick was kind of a throw away character and slightly a bone-head or something.

Let me break down some of the other characters and actors. My girl Regina Hall as Michelle, Aaron's wife was cute. She and Rock really seemed like a married couple. Lorreta Devine played a typical mother-in-law that would get on someone's nerves. Zoe Saldana must be the "it" girl. I see her popping up in every movie and major big blockbusters now. Is there no other sistas? Well, I say go girl and get that check. Danny Glover as Uncle Russell played a mean and surly old man superbly. Columbus Short, he is so underrated. He was brilliant in Cadillac Records. I am noticing we are seeing more of him. Peter Dinklage who played the blackmailing Frank was in the original Death also. This man gets the gigs. I really like him. He also has a good voice. I'd like to see more of him too.

I'm saving the best for last and that would be James Marsden who played the highed up Oscar. From the trailer you all can see he is the one who took so called Valium to calm his nerves given by his boo Elaine (Zoe Saldana), but it was more like acid or a hallucinogen. Oscar was feeling good. He seemed so happy and just loving life. If only we could all feel that glorious everyday. Oscar had tons of screen time, but he stayed true to his role. I'll give him that. There's a really comical and banana scene with Oscar, but I've got to keep it quiet for your fun.

Death had tons of cursing -- F words and I don't mean Fudge rounds. There were some good battles of words with the jokes. This is one of those movies I'd watch again on DVD. It made me laugh. Only bit of advice I'd give is to be prepared for some nasty and very uncomfortable scenes. You'll know them as soon as you see them. You'll squash up your face, blush and say..."ewwww."

My Rating ~ 3 Reels

Audience Rating (What's Yours?)