Film Review | Death At A Funeral (2010)

Remaking a film is never a straightforward business. Changing things too much can provoke a backlash from audiences, especially if the film you're remaking is much-loved. By the same token, produce a shot-for-shot remake and people simply start asking what the point is. But every so often, a remake comes along that gets it just right, with a few key examples where the remade version ends up more highly regarded than the original. And then there are films like 2010's remake of Death At A Funeral, which changes just enough to feel worthwhile whilst at the same time feeling decidedly safe, and ends up about as successful overall as the original.

Not put off by the universal trashing of his last attempt at a remake in 2006's The Wicker Man, Neil LaBute's Hollywood version of Death At A Funeral came only three years after the British-made original. LaBute's version stays largely faithful to Dean Craig's script, with only a few minor plot points changed which ultimately make very little difference to the story being told. The film therefore shares a lot of the successes and shortcomings of Frank Oz's 2007 film.

The cast here are largely as successful as that seen in the original, with LaBute assembling mostly black actors for his film. A smart move that substitutes well the parochial nature of leafy middle class England for an equally close-knit community in the United States. One or two members of the cast are noticeably inferior to their 2007 counterparts however: James Marsden tries hard, but never manages the same level of lunacy as seen in Alan Tudyk's performance; so too for Loretta Devine in the relatively minor role of grieving widow Cynthia, who can't quite match up to Jane Asher in the original. That said, there are also some superior casting decisions that redress the balance, most notably Danny Glover as the perpetually grumpy Uncle Russell. Casting Peter Dinklage once again in his role from the first film is also a smart move.

By transferring the setting to the United States LaBute does lose some of the humour derived from the prim and proper nature of the British original, and there are a handful of elements which worked before but here feel considerably less successful. But, almost as a trade off, the majority of the cast feel a lot more relaxed here. Oz's original often felt like a theatrical performance being filmed, whereas LaBute's film comes across as a lot more natural.

In the end, there's not a lot between the two versions of Death At A Funeral. LaBute's remake shares the majority of the hits and misses seen in the original due in no small part to Craig's script; there are also things that LaBute gets right that Oz got wrong, and vice versa. In the end, this is just as worth watching as the 2007 version, but if you're looking for a film which remedies the failings of the original then this is likely to disappoint.

6/10

Film Review | Death At A Funeral (2007)

Death At A Funeral has all the set-up for a tight and entertaining farcical British comedy. It's a shame then that, whilst certainly enjoyable, it never fully realises that potential.

The film gets plenty of things right. The performances from the cast are on the whole solid, if not particularly memorable; only Kris Marshall stands out as particularly weak playing yet again the same character as he has been since he first came to public attention in TV sitcom My Family. There's also plenty of classic farce scenarios played out with the backdrop of a funeral adding a pleasing blackly comic element.

It seems surprising then that one of the key criticisms of the film is that it doesn't quite take things far enough. Time and again the film sets itself up for a perfect skin-crawling farcical scenario, then holds back from going all out in the comedy stakes. It's almost as though director Frank Oz wants his comedy to be edgy, but not push the envelope of edginess. Playing it safe in terms of tastefulness when you've set your comedy film at a funeral feels entirely perverse, only serving to place your film much closer to the middle of the road. Things pick up somewhat during the final act, but it's a little too late in the day to make a real difference.

Dean Craig's script also unfortunately makes some pretty basic mistakes in terms of how it exploits both characters and situations for humour. Craig erroneously believes that nudity, defecation, people on drugs, and English people with middle class accents swearing are all funny. Whilst each of these elements get an initial chortle, unless you develop the jokes and do something with them, other than just showing them to the audience again and again, they soon become quite tired.

All in all, Death At A Funeral comes across more like an extended episode of a sitcom than a feature film. It's enjoyable enough with the cast being its strongest feature, but never does anything original or daring enough to truly stand out. Worth a watch, but unlikely to stick in your mind much past the credits.

6/10

Film Review | Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (2012)

You'd be hard pressed to name a film franchise that has managed to maintain a respectable level of quality over four installments. Sadly, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift manages to provide a spectacular example of just why this is.

After Scrat (Chris Wedge) accidentally causes the break-up of the continents, Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo) and Diego (Denis Leary) are separated from the rest of their herd and set adrift over the sea on a block of ice. With Manny determined to reunite with Ellie (Queen Latifah) and their daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer), the group cross paths with Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage), a piratical primate with a rag-tag crew sailing on their own shipshape iceberg.

Ice Age 4 has its moments, albeit ones that are sadly few and far between. The opening sequence showing how Scrat, in typical Tex Avery style, wreaks havoc with the earth's crust through his usual nut-burying activity is a genuine highlight. It's a shame then that Scrat's antics throughout the rest of the film are severely downplayed from previous installments and, for the first time in an Ice Age film, feel desperately uninspired and woefully tacked on. Scrat's interludes have been a highlight throughout all of the first three films, so to have to write so negatively about them here is a real disappointment.

The film also makes some potentially good choices. I was genuinely heartened when Manny, Sid and Diego were separated off from all the other characters they've picked up across the first two sequels, a band of three for the first time since the original film. Disappointingly, the chemistry and sharp scripting of the first film is never recreated, with the trio feeling like a tired shadow of what they once were.

From there, Ice Age 4 is largely a collection of irritating and underdeveloped characters and recycled ideas from not only previous Ice Age films but also other franchises. Jennifer Lopez's Shira is a flat and uninteresting love interest for Diego, with Leary and Lopez having no chemistry. Dinklage as Captain Gutt is fine but forgettable; it's hardly worth mentioning any of Gutt's crew members, too many in number as they are and each as one-dimensional as the next. Sid's Granny (Wanda Sykes) adds nothing, feeling like an excuse to plough the well-worn furrow of jokes about old people. Worst of all, however, are the street-talking teenage mammoths, voiced by the likes of Drake and Nicki Minaj, that Manny's daughter wants to "hang" with. Any time these characters are on screen is excruciating to the point of embarrassment, and left me wondering how the Ice Age franchise could possibly have slipped so far from its charming origins.

Ice Age 4 ends up as nothing more than a signifier that the franchise has gone one too many and needs to end before it tarnishes the reputation of the far superior previous installments. It's a film strung together with lazy writing and vacuous pop culture references that feel desperate rather than cool. It's even a struggle to praise the animation which actually feels less impressive than that seen in the second sequel. Watching Ice Age 4 as a fan of the franchise in general only made its glaring errors and sloppy execution all the more disappointing. The best that can be hoped for is that the inevitable fifth installment (with Ice Age 4's box office success) is an improvement on this.

3/10