Death at a Funeral

The British farce about an extended relatives coming together for a funeral, with elaborate hijinks ensuing, debuted in 2007 to mixed reviews and minimal box office. The main problem with director Franz Oz's film was that it was all over the place in tone - veering between dry wit, scatological slapstick and sticky sentimentality - with dull sections that dragged in between.

The original "Death at a Funeral" only came out about three years ago, so it may seem a bit soon to resurrect it. But director Neil LaBute and an all-star cast surprisingly breathe new life in to the material.

This new "Death at a Funeral" works better because at least it knows what it is. LaBute goes for it, playing up the wilder elements of the story, of which there's plenty. And the hugely gifted comic cast, led by Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan, is definitely up for such raunchy physicality.

Now, LaBute would seem an odd choice for a relatives comedy, having made his name with far darker, crueler humor in movies like "In the Company of Men" and "The Shape of Things." (They also directed Rock a decade ago in "Nurse Betty.") But perhaps the crooked elements of the story appealed to him, including hallucinogenic drugs, a profane grandpa as well as a gay midget lover.

But the setting this time is the Los Angeles home of an upscale black relatives that is lost its patriarch. Eldest son Aaron (Rock, who is also three of the producers) wants a dignified ceremony, but signals trouble early when they looks inside the coffin and finds that the perfectly embalmed, peaceful-looking man lying there is not his sister.

Writer Dean Craig tweaks his own script for this verbatim remake - it is only a minute longer in walking time - from chunks of dialogue to wardrobe details like a character answering the door sans pants.

One times the right corpse arrives, the other relatives and friends who show up to pay their respects include cousin Elaine (Zoe Saldana) and her fella, Oscar (James Marsden), whom her sister doesn't approve of; Norman (Morgan) and his buddy Derek (Luke Wilson), who is still pursuing Elaine after a brief fling; and cantankerous Uncle Russell (Danny Glover), barking orders from his wheelchair.

Aaron's wife, Michelle (Regina Hall), doesn't help matters by reminding him she is ovulating and demanding they do something about it; his brother (Loretta Devine) is also nagging him about giving her a grandchild, when she is not bragging about Aaron's younger sister, the successful author Ryan (Lawrence).

The elderly uncle character provides the same graphic bathroom scene as in the original, which is as unnecessary now as it was then; "Death at a Funeral" is at its most appealing when it is daring as well as a small bit kinky, and doesn't require to appeal to the lowest common denominator in this manner.