Death at a Funeral Studio: Sony Pictures Classics Year: 2010 Rated: R Program Length: 92 minutes Aspect Ratio: 2.40 1080p Languages: English, French, Portuguese DTS-HD MA; Spanish 5.1 Dolby Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish The Program Ryan: It's hard to see dad like this. He's in a better place now, right? He was sick a long time. Aaron: Since when does dead beat sick? In 2007 Frank Oz directed the original Death at a Funeral, a generally well-received black comedy about the funeral of the patriarch of a dysfunctional British family. Hollywood usually lets at least a decade pass before remaking an English-language film, so it was somewhat surprising when Chris Rock and director Neil LaBute decided to make an American version of Death at a Funeral less than three years after Oz' film was released. I have not seen the original, but various sources have reported that LaBute's film is very faithful to it. The major differences seem to be that the 2010 version takes place in California, and the cast is mostly made up of black actors. Making a comedy about a funeral is a tricky proposition. The funniest film about funerals which I can recall is the 1965 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel The Loved One, which was billed as "the motion picture with something to offend everyone." LaBute's Death at a Funeral is neither as funny nor as offensive as The Loved One, but it still delivers enough laughs to merit a positive recommendation. Chris Rock, in an unusually subdued performance, stars as Aaron Barnes, the eldest son of Eddie Barnes, a well-to-do businessman who has passed away. Aaron agrees to abide by his father's dying wish by holding the funeral at their spacious home. Others who are coming to the funeral include Ryan (Martin Lawrence), Aaron's younger brother, who lives in New York and has become a successful novelist. Ryan also is the favorite of their mother, Cynthia (Loretta Devine), much to Aaron's chagrin because Ryan rarely comes back to California for a visit and did nothing to help up with their dying father. Exacerbating the sibling rivalry is the fact that despite his literary success, Ryan is strapped for cash and Aaron is being stuck with the cost of the funeral. Uncle Russell (Danny Glover) is a cantankerous, wheelchair-bound resident of a home for senior citizens who rarely has a pleasant word to say about anyone. Aaron is married to Michelle (Regina Hall), a beautiful 37-year-old who has thus far been unable to give her disappointed mother-in-law a grandchild. The loquacious Norman (Tracy Morgan) is a childhood friend of both Aaron and Ryan. Derek (Luke Wilson) is Norman's best friend, and he also is the estranged boyfriend of Elaine (Zoe Saldana), the cousin of Aaron and Ryan. Elaine is dating Oscar (James Marsden), who is intimated by and afraid of Elaine's physician father, Duncan (Ron Glass). Elaine has a brother named Jeff (Columbus Short), who supports himself by manufacturing recreational drugs in his apartment. The other principal character is a mysterious short person named Frank (Peter Dinklage), whom no one seems to know but who has his own good reasons for attending the funeral. Dinklage, incidentally, played the same character in the 2007 film. Things being to go awry immediately, when the funeral home delivers the wrong body to the house. While this is being sorted out, Elaine tries to calm down the nervous Derek by giving him a Valium which she found in her brother's apartment. The Valium, of course, is actually something much stronger, which leads to some predictable but still humorous complications. Mayhem ensues, forcing a temporary halt to the funeral. The obtuse and self-absorbed Derek tries to take advantage of the interruption to rekindle his romance with Elaine. When he reminds her of their first passionate night together, she retorts "I was so drunk, you could have been a donkey for all I knew." Derek takes this as a compliment. One would think that by now all avenues of scatological humor would have been explored in movies, but this film manages to come up with a new twist in a scene involving Uncle Russell and Norman. The scene will either convulse you or disgust you, so consider yourself warned. In the meantime, the stranger Frank has a private meeting with Aaron and divulges the true nature of his past relationship with the deceased. This makes it difficult for Aaron to focus on the eulogy he plans to give for his father, a eulogy which most people present believe should rightfully be given by Ryan, the published author. It is difficult for me to assess whether Death at a Funeral needed to me remade. However, there is no denying that it is very well made, moves along a brisk pace, and features a very talented and attractive ensemble cast. It also delivers enough laughs to keep the viewer smiling, which is more than a lot of so-called comedies these days can say. On that basis, it deserves a positive recommendation. The Video The 2.40:1 1080p Blu-ray transfer by Sony is typically very solid. The picture is consistently sharp and detailed, with solid and accurate colors. A very moderate amount of film grain has been retained to give it a pleasing and natural film-like appearance. The framing appears to be perfect. Almost all of the action takes place indoors and was shot on soundstages, but the lighting is very good and natural throughout. Black levels are solid and very good shadow detail is present. As usual, Sony has avoided applying excessive DNR to the picture and I did not observe any digital anomalies. This is not the sort of film which you would use to showcase your home theater, but viewers will find nothing to complain about. The Audio The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is solid if unspectacular. Dialogue is mostly confined to the center channel, although there are some chaotic scenes in which seemingly everyone in the cast can be heard across all of the channels. The dialogue is consistently clear and understandable. The subwoofer has very little to do, but then this is a farce rather than an action film. The enjoyable musical soundtrack includes some familiar tunes such as "Life" by Sly & The Family Stone and "Poppa Was a Rollin' Stone" by The Temptations. The Supplements There are plenty of extras on this Blu-ray disc. A commentary track with director Neil LaBute and Chris Rock was recorded together while they were on opposite ends of the country. They are very complimentary of the cast and LaBute points out that screenwriter Dean Craig, who wrote the screenplay for the 2007 film, was given sole credit for the screenplay of the remake. LaBute and Rock seem to be having a very good time while doing the commentary. Seven deleted scenes are presented in letterboxed standard definition. They are fairly amusing, but obviously were cut for pacing reasons. A short gag reel of the actors flubbing their lines also is presented in standard definition. "Death at a Funeral: Last Rites, Dark Secrets" is a twenty-minute "making of" featurette which includes all of the principal actors and the filmmakers. This featurette is shown in high-definition 1.85:1, with clips from the film shown at 2.40:1. "Family Album" is a helpful feature which gives each of the principal members of the cast the opportunity to expound upon the characters they play. This extra also is in high-definition. "Death for Real" is a six-minute featurette in high-definition in which the actors and filmmakers comment on the subject of death and funerals. As Columbus Short says, it is a topic which people do not like to talk about, but with every passing minute each of us is closer to our own demise. Sony also has included trailers for The Karate Kid, Grown Ups, Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, The Back-Up Plan, Bad Boys, and The Other Guys. The trailer for Death at a Funeral is not included. As usual, BD-Live features will be enabled on the release date. The Packaging The single disc comes in a standard Blu-ray keep case. The Final Analysis Death at a Funeral is a funny comedy about a subject which one does not normally associate with humor. The major caveat that I have is that there may not be enough here which is new to make it worthwhile for those who have seen the 2007 Frank Oz version. Equipment used for this review: Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 Plasma display, calibrated to THX specifications by Gregg Loewen Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver BIC Acoustech speakers Interconnects: Monster Cable Release Date: August 10, 2010
