Death at a Funeral (8/10)

by Tony Medley

Run Time: 90 minutes

OK for children.

The father of Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence has died and lots of people are coming around for his funeral. What happens is inconceivable and side-splitting funny.

Even though I had laughed throughout director Frank Oz’s British original in 2007, I was still laughing throughout this hilarious remake. Americans generally don’t do farce as well as the English and French, but director Neil LaBute gets top performances from this cast, headed by James Marsden, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, Ron Glass, Keith David, and Peter Dinklage reprising his role from the original.

I have to admit I entered the theater with a negative outlook. I liked the original a lot and I’m not fond of remakes. I’m asking myself, “why are they remaking a wonderful movie so soon?” On top of that, Chris Rock, who is an uproariously funny standup, has never been in a movie I’ve seen that has been anything but rotten.

So when I say that this movie was funny and enjoyable, you can take it to the bank. Rock is very good, but so is his entire supporting cast, even Tracy Morgan, who stunk out the place in “Cop Out.” Marsden tops everybody as the guy who has mistakenly taken some uppers and is out of his head.

Dinklage was pretty funny in the original, but he is really funny here. Apparently practice makes perfect. It was also good to see Ron Glass, whom I so admired in “Barney Miller” three decades ago (can it be that long?), still has it.