Review: Death at a Funeral

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Neil La Bute's remake of Death at a Funeral is a reminder of the absurdity in remaking a good, accessible and recent film. 

In 2007, one of my favorite films was Death at a Funeral, Frank Oz's very dry, very British comedy (yes, he's a Brit).  When I heard that there was going to be a U.S. remake, I balked. Why remake a perfectly satisfying film in the same language?  It's hard enough to stomach a remake of a good film, but understandable when it's a foreign-language film, because Hollywood clearly thinks American audiences can't handle the subtitles (and in fairness, there is still prejudice against fully subtitled films). 

But Oz's Death at a Funeral, while stylistically classic Brit-com with bouts of rapid-fire dialogue and sometimes subtle humor, is not culturally specific or period specific. So what did the U.S. version do? Rehash the original script, replace a few moments with what certain American comics seem to think of as funny and overfill it with pop-culture references. What in the original was fresh and tightly delivered feels like a read-through by the 2010 U.S. cast.

Director Neil La Bute (The Shape of Things, In the Company of Men) is known for dissecting caustic truths, but this comedy has none of the bite or insight of his dramas. With a cast full of comedians, one would think the sense of comic timing would be impeccable, but lines are delivered with as much passion as Ben Stein could muster and the physically humor seems better fit for a stage in front of a live audience.  Every performer save two seems so consciously aware of the original that Columbus Short even mimics a move by Kris Marshall, who does it far more believably.

It's like the names are changed to protect the innocent characters that got watered down in the second-generation script by the same screenwriter, Dean Craig. Both films have only one credited writer, but with the changes made in the 2010 version of Death at a Funeral it seems that there was improvisation to add "funny" moments that just don't work unless you enjoy the most basic, contrived humor that doesn't add to the story. Peter Dinklage certainly doesn't, in the same role but with half the energy.

The only two cast members who are at all engaging are Zoe Saldana and James Marsden, who do what they can with what they've got. Saldana's Elaine has a little less to do than Daisy Donovan's Martha, being relegated to a supporting player for Marsden and Luke Wilson, although Elaine's more sympathetic than ball-busting Martha was. Marsden is a breath of fresh air in a purely comic role as Oscar, cutting loose (when he can) with moments of shameless glee that are only marred by the fact that he didn't originate the role. If I wasn't familiar with Alan Tudyk's impeccable timing under a director who let him chew the scenery as an ecstacy-dosed fiance,  Marsden would have seemed even funnier.  

It's not like La Bute can't handle dark comedy; he's done it before with Nurse Betty. But what he got on film feels like he grabbed people off the street to do a read-through, not professional actors, and the energy is simply not there. 

By the time the film ends, in a completely Hollywood-ized way, I couldn't wait for it to be over. Based on the audience reaction, I'm probably in a very small minority. If you have any standards for comedy, skip the remake and rent the 2007 Death at a Funeral instead. You'll have a much better time.