Death At A Funeral (2010) review

Same film, but better…

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Death At A Funeral (2010) review - Matthew MacFadyen and a few familiar faces made a Brit-com about a disastrous funeral. Don’t worry – no one else saw it either. But audiences should be more reverential about this faster, starrier, frame-for-frame remake promising hot women, naked men, scatological gags, comedy murder and druggy chaos.

Frustrated writer and put-upon son Aaron (Chris Rock) is hosting his father’s memorial at the family home and stressing about the eulogy that everyone thinks his flash novelist bro (Martin Lawrence) should deliver. But that’s the least of his problems.

While Pa stiffens up in the coffin, Aaron’s cousin (Zoe Saldana) arrives toting her acid-tripping boyfriend (James Marsden). Her ex (jowly Luke Wilson) is on the trouble-making prowl, elderly Uncle Russell (Danny Glover) has loose bowels and a mysterious dwarf (Peter Dinklage) gate-crashes the ceremony to share some shocking snaps… Jeez, let us pray.

From the get-go DAAF dials-up the hysteria, setting off at a gallop of broad, farcical comedy and not letting up. Corpses roll across the dining room, people run in and out of the house, poo splatters, EVERYone shouts. It’s a frantic pace that disguises Neil LaBute’s unremarkable direction and will quickly exhaust the patience of some. But amid the cacophony are some truly guffaw-worthy moments, and Marsden all but steals the show with his inventive depictions of gleeful hallucinating.

A shame then that Saldana does little more than totter around in heels and Lawrence has a surplus jailbait-perving storyline, while the one-note braying of 30 Rock’s Tracy Morgan irritates by the minute. No wonder Glover craps on him...

Contributing Editor, Total Film

Jane Crowther is a contributing editor to Total Film magazine, having formerly been the longtime Editor, as well as serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Film Group here at Future Plc, which covers Total Film, SFX, and numerous TV and women's interest brands. Jane is also the vice-chair of The Critics' Circle and a BAFTA member. You'll find Jane on GamesRadar+ exploring the biggest movies in the world and living up to her reputation as one of the most authoritative voices on film in the industry. 

Latest in Comedy Movies
John Cena in Barbie
John Cena comedy Coyote Vs. Acme might come out after all, over a year after it was controversially shelved
Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
29 years later, Happy Gilmore 2 trailer sees Adam Sandler return to the course with familiar faces – and confirms release date
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera in Superbad
Seth Rogen says Sony wouldn't let Jonah Hill use a PlayStation in Superbad as his character was too "reprehensible": "They're like, 'We can't have him interact with our products'"
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in Freakier Friday
Freaky Friday 2 trailer promises more body-swap hilarity from Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in long-awaited sequel
Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice 2 star Jenna Ortega would love to star in another classic horror comedy franchise: Gremlins
This is Spinal Tap
First Spinal Tap 2 teaser reveals release date for comedy sequel that’s over 40 years in the making
Latest in Reviews
Image of the Corsair Virtuoso Max wireless headset sitting on top of a gaming PC case taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe.
Corsair Virtuoso Max Wireless review - a PC headset tour de force
Zombicide box featuring stylized art of survivors fighting zombies
Zombicide 2nd Edition review: "Like a zombie flick brought to tabletop"
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"