Death at a Funeral

“Death at a Funeral,” produced by and starring Chris Rock as Aaron, a married man, living in his parents’ house and in charge of planning his father’s at home funeral, resurrects the British comedy of the same name. The original, released just three years ago, navigated the independent film circuit to great reviews and inspired Rock to release his own version.

“Death” features an all-star cast including Keith David as the impatient Reverend Davis, Loretta Devine as Cynthia, the grieving mother and widow, Danny Glover as the grouchy Uncle Russell, Zoe Saldana as the intense Elaine, James Marsden, who plays her boyfriend Oscar, and the scene stealing Peter Dinklage, who reprises his role from the original film as Frank, a stranger who makes a surprise appearance at the funeral.

The film opens with Aaron waiting inside his parents’ living room, watching the pallbearers bring in the coffin for the service. When the funeral facilitator (Kevin Heart) opens the coffin for Aaron’s identification, the laughs commence and don’t stop. Each character then begins to make an appearance, providing the collage of personalities that most audience members will recognize as a recipe for disaster.

“Death” is set very much like a comedy of doors and errors that could just as well play out in a live theater, where at any moment, anything can happen. And often does. The movie deftly weaves several story lines together, and just as everything gets rolling, the mysterious stranger Frank (Dinklage) walks in and the real mayhem begins.

The family dysfunction gets rolling with Oscar’s paranoia at spending time with Elaine’s father Duncan (Ron Glass), Aaron’s wife Michelle (Regina Hall) and her insistence that she and Aaron have sex that day because she’s ovulating, and Glover’s Uncle Russell and his bathroom adventures.

Two very smart moves in “Funeral” include shooting the movie scene for scene of the original, straying little and maintaining the rhythm of the British farce. While some of the dialogue, jokes and physical comedy reflect a more current time, such as references to both Facebook and to Twitter, the flow is almost identical.

The second and very strategic move by Rock is that he intentionally uses wise restraint in “Funeral.” He managed to recruit a dream cast and, as a result, his comedic chops take a back seat, instead opting to play the straight man. Several of the actors play the absurdities to the hilt, letting it all go, so to speak, because the roles demand complete selflessness.

The three most memorable characters, Uncle Russell, Frank and Norman (Tracy Morgan), perpetually provide endless laughs. One particular low brow scene lifted verbatim from the British film, involves a sign of the deepest sacrifice a man will make to feel accepted. However it’s Oscar, played with perfection by Marsden, that audiences won’t be able to get enough of.

Very little could have improved this comedy. And timed at ninety minutes, it’s the perfect length, unfolding each circumstance and allowing the cast to bounce off of each other. One key detail that does stray from the original version is that the character arc of Ryan (Martin Lawrence) doesn’t reach the full resolve it does in the British version. However, the revised comedic scene still fulfills.

“Death at a Funeral” presents one day in the life of one family inside one home, shown mostly from the perspective of one man, who is trying to hold everything together: the finances, his marriage and the passing of his father. The film succeeds on two levels. On one hand, Rock masterfully delivers a well-crafted production that entertains the audience, from the very first scene, to the very last.

Simultaneously, given that two versions of one movie exist, made in different countries, focusing on people of different cultures, the story and its message is universal. “Death” solidifies the idea that, in life, good art inspires, while great art connects.

DIRECTOR: Neil LaBute SCREENWRITER: Dean Craig PRODUCERS: Dean Craig, Glenn S. Gainor, Jim Tauber CAST: Chris Rock, Danny Glover, Keith David, Tracy Morgan MPAA RATING: R