Death at a Funeral

When I heard that an American version of this 2007 British film was being made I was perplexed. I shouldn’t have been. Why wouldn’t the Americans think they could improve on an insanely funny movie that was punctuated with just the right amount of dry wit and stiff upper-lip Brit humour? Sorry, but the sheer arrogance of it offends my sensibilities. Then again maybe I’m just being precious about a movie that I found so outrageously entertaining that I don’t believe anyone could do it better.

Hollywood has convened some of the biggest names in comedy to pull off the sharp script: Chris Rock, Terry Morgan, Martin Lawrence and Danny Glover all feature and yes, they’re funny. Not as funny as the original in my opinion but still amusing. If you haven’t seen the 2007 version here’s the lowdown: A family gathers for the funeral of their father and, over the course of the afternoon, find themselves having to deal with a coffin-load of ridiculous mishaps. An accidental Ecstasy ingestion, a blackmailing midget and a crabby old uncle with diarrhoea are all on the list. Even though it’s round two of the same flick, it’s bound to be the comedy of the month.

Rating: 3.5 outta 5.