The Freak's Rating: C- : Ensemble casts strike fear into the hearts of critics for one primary reason...they are usually lumped together to take a lagging script to the next level. Often junk is turned into mediocre junk by simply adding a bunch of big names. Such was the case with Death At A Funeral.
Having had the original in my Netflix queue for over a year now (I watch entirely too many movies in case you hadn't figured that one out yet), I was well aquainted with the story and knew it to be a solid one. Therefore when I heard about this version of it, I felt it would be done well. On many levels I was correct, on a few not so much. Not seeing the original, I'll have to guess that some aspects of the storyline are different as in this version I am led to believe they could only exist with this cast and not the former.
Nearly every performance is overacted here. Chris Rock steps out of character and into a standup when he delivers his funniest lines, Martin Lawrence regurgitates the same characters he has always played and Danny Glover even pulls a Lethal Weapon line or two out of his bag. Tracy Morgan, Peter Dinklage, Luke Wilson and the beautiful Zoe Saldana do a fine job with their parts, attempting as best they can to save what is a decent adaptation at best.
Death At A Funeral has a target audience for sure. With all these comedians, the Tyler Perry crowd will eat this one up. It isn't an awful movie, there just isn't enough originality and solid story for me to recommend it. This is a classic example of getting what you pay for. If you are in line for tickets for this one based solely on the cast, you'll likely enjoy it. Otherwise, hop over to a different line.
