Too many times in the past, audiences have been scammed into viewing a comedy because the trailer looks amazingly hilarious. But once the film starts rolling the audience soon realizes that all the best scenes and comedic moments were already in the trailer. “Death at a Funeral” certainly could be misconstrued as the same situation. How many more funny moments could there possibly be in one film about one single day? Well plenty it seems.
Danny Glover, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan in "Death at a Funeral."
“Death at a Funeral” is director Neil Labute’s second major film after “Lakeview Terrace,” and he does an excellent job keeping his many major stars from completely taking over the film. Dean Craig was the leading writer for the film and original British film released in 2007 and also did a great job of keeping every character within their limits without taking over the full film.
“Death at a Funeral” is stacked with three generations of black film stars from Danny Glover and Keith David to Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Columbus Short and Zoe Saldana. But surprisingly one of the funnier characters in the film was “Oscar,” played by actor James Marsden, who is accidentally slipped a hallucinogenic drug right before the start of the funeral. Marsden’s character brings some of the most memorable moments to the film through clever raunchiness and classic over-the-top interpretations. Marsden shows his tremendous versatility again with another random role. In the past, Marsden has played roles like Cyclops in the recent “X-Men” movies, “the other lover” in “The Notebook” as well as the bitter-charming guy in “27 Dresses.” But in “Death at a Funeral” Marsden plays a kooky character high on “life.”
“Death at a Funeral” brings to the forefront of audience’s minds the thought of how one would handle situations in the films context. Everyone has a crazy family, but as always it seems during times of grief situations tend to escalate. “Death at a Funeral” takes its audience through tough circumstances in a delightful manner, which helps viewers see themselves through the characters on the screen. Although the film is surrounded by the death of a family member, it keeps its audience laughing and enjoying 90 minutes away from their daily grind.
For a different take on the film, visit McMillan’s Take: Questionable remake; talent disappoints
