The Re-imagining of Death at a Funeral

Peter Dinklage in Death at a Funeral

If you follow this blog, you probably know I have mixed emotions about movie remakes. For the record, remakes are acceptable only when technology can make them better visually and/or it can be updated for modern times. It is also preferable for a decent amount of time to pass before anyone tries to do a better job than the original. Not one of these factors are present when it comes to the fabulous movie, Death at a Funeral. The 2007 British film is already being re-imagined by Chris Rock. Give me a break!

How will it be re-imagined? How will they duplicate the humor inappropriately found at a funeral. Will the same situation be as funny in a different context? I don’t think so. Sure, screenwriters can produce a similar script and characters, but part of Death at a Funeral’s charm was the locale. The “urban American setting” will handicap the new film.

The cast of the original will be impossible to duplicate, even though there were two American actors among them (Peter Dinklage and Alan Tudyk). Actors and characters meshed seamlessly to create a realistic family and their friends. That brings us back to the setting. You would expect these people to be in the British countryside. I’m not saying the circumstances couldn’t occur anywhere but there. On the contrary, I can imagine it happening in any number of American cities. Thus the problem. The circumstances in the original were unimaginable and subsequently hilarious.

Alan Tudyk in Death at a Funeral

The humor Chris Rock has contributed to the entertainment industry has its place, but it will not work in this particular instance. Even if he and his writing partner, Aeysha Carr, write a great script it will never measure up. The original was just too good. I give them credit; they chose a great film to replicate. I think, however, they are reaching beyond their abilities and the results will be disappointing.

Source: Rock to Star and Co-Write Death at a Funeral

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