Every time I see a trailer for Death at a Funeral, I get angry. Not because I think that Chris Rock isn’t funny, or because it pokes fun at a vulnerable situation. No, I get angry because the exact same movie has been made before. In 2007, Frank Oz directed a stellar cast in the droll, zany movie, which I saw but never reviewed for some reason. If Firefly hadn’t done so already, the 2007 Death would have endeared me to the work of Alan Tudyk for life. Now Niel LaBute, writer and director of the unknown but brilliant In the Company of Men and not much else of consequence, is helming a remake that seems content to replace understatement with catch phrases and screaming. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Tracy Morgan – I’m a huge fan of his on 30 Rock – and I’m sure this movie will find some kind of audience (probably more than the $8.5 million it grossed in 2007), but it’s completely unnecessary to remake the movie three years after its initial release, especially when the original was so good. At least they had the good sense to re-cast Peter Dinklage in his role.
Again, I’m sure there have been many remakes that have been successful, and I’m sure that I’ve seen a remake of a brilliant British film without knowing of the original, but seems such a sin to remake such a brilliant movie so soon. See the trailer below.