Screen Spotlight

Home / Movie Categories / Comedy / Death at a Funeral: Did Chris Rock Survive?

Browse by Category

Hot New Movies

Box Office Numbers

$	103.0M	Marvel's The Avengers
$	29.6M	Dark Shadows
$	5.8M	Think Like a Man
$	4.5M	The Hunger Games
$	4.1M	The Lucky One
As of May 14, 2012

Hollywood Gossip, Tidbits, and News

A man has broken the world record for fist pumping buy pumping for 17 hours. My god what an achievement, but we are overlooking how raw his penis must be. The President of Yahoo has been forced to resign because he made an inflated claim on his resume. Meanwhile, in other news, Barak Obama ate dog. Robert Pattinson is 27 going on 17, good for you RSchmuck, I mean RPutz. Are Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer an item again? Is Jessica Simpson's body still a wonderland? Yes, it's just we are wondering why her territory doubled in size. Is Jay-Z acting like a wild bachelor on the prowl? With a name like Jay-Z I don't think any of us really care. Drake is romancing two cougars? Man, dude's a zookeeper. Does Casper Smart enjoy his five minutes of fame? Is that all he lasts for? Lightweight. Rihanna was recently hospitalized for too much partying. It's ok though, let's keep the focus on Lindsay Lohan, she's white after all. Christina Aguilera is quitting The Voice. John Travolta is not gay, he just like's dudes.

Mariah and Nick renew their vows in Paris? I bet he showed her the Eiffel Tower. Truth be told, it might have been more like the leaning tower of Pisa. Gwyneth Paltrow has post partum depression. Me too, but it has been quite a while since I was in the womb. Kim K and Lindsay Lohan will attend the White House Correspondent's Dinner. I guess they wanted to see who has the best lines, and I'm not talking about comedy. Jessica Simpson has a baby shower? What is it like 2 feet tall and a tiny water head? Weirdo. Ellen DeGeneres is a Vegan? I thought she ate meat every night! Jenny McCarthy loves Botox. She loves silicon too. Richard Simmons has flammable shorts. Molly Ringwald drinks Kristen Stewart's blood. But alas it's not that time of the month yet. Want to see Taylor Lautner pics? Then go see Breaking Dawn Part 2. Lisa Rinna does advertisements for adult diapers. That's a coincidence because the first time I saw her naked I shit my pants!

Katy Perry dyes her hair purple. That's quite a change from the pink it was last week. Kelsey Grammar has proven you are never too old to get a tattoo or a Viagra prescription. Nicole Kidman does not mind being naked. Trust me when I tell you we don't mind either. Ashton Kutcher is having "intercourse" with Mila Kunis. One more time for those of you from Port Saint Lucie Florida, that's "intercourse". Who's is bigger Angelina's or Jennifer's? What are we talking about? Just ask Brad Pitt, he'll tell you! Seal has a new girlfriend and her name is whatshernameIdon'tcare. Will Pippa Middleton face arrest? Will switching to Progressive really give you better discounts? Taylor Armstrong is "so not ready to date yet". Wait, I don't speak moron, does that mean she wants to date or not? Bow Wow is no longer a wanted man but that doesn't answer the question who let the dogs out?

J-Lo bought Casper Smart a truck for his birthday. Hey, we already know where he likes to park it! Lamar Odom you are fired! Thanks for playing, next time leave the 500lb gorilla at home. Yeah, we are talking to you Kardashian. NBC's Rock Center has coverage more lopsided than Brian Williams' face. Miley Cyrus is not anorexic, she just eats lots of laxatives, get it? LOL? Ann Hathaway's hair is so short she looks like Jerry Seinfeld and there is nothing funny about that. Jennifer Hudson will appear at a murder trial. As a witness or as a defendant? Ah who keeps up with the Kardashians anyway. Khloe Kardashian says Lamar Odom deserved better from the Mavericks. Khloe, try running your fat ass up a basketball court and then you can talk. Is Lindsay Lohan guilty of assault? Only because she attacked my heart. Awwwww. Mila Kunis or Kate Upton? It depends, which one did Justin Timberlake already date? After being arrested for a DUI Amanda Bynes went back to her hotel bar. Maybe it's time she went back to acting because she sure plays a dumbass great in real life.

Hot New Movies

Screen Spotlight Featured Reviews

Death at a Funeral: Did Chris Rock Survive?

Written by Jonathan Jacobs

Nearly every rowdy, raucous, off the wall, in your face comedy with a very FULL cast of crazy characters needs at least one guy who is on the level. Their job is to absorb all of the comedic insanity and attempt to keep the whole situation grounded. Having offered the characterization of the perfect comedian's role, I can definitely say Chris Rock was never meant to be that guy…

     Death at a Funeral　is about the funeral of a family patriarch. Dark secrets are uncovered and long dormant resentments are brought screaming back to life. Frustrated writer Aaron (Chris Rock) bitterly resents the fame, money, and irresponsible lifestyle of his playboy older brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence). Family friend Derek (Luke Wilson) has his sights set on winning back his former flame Elaine (Zoe Saldana) from her fiancé Oscar (James Marsden), who has accidentally taken a powerful hallucinogen. Meanwhile, Frank (Peter Dinklage, reprising his role from the original) threatens to derail the proceedings by revealing his secret homosexual past with the newly deceased. He demands a payment of a mere 30 grand to keep it a secret.

     This film should have been a winner. The cast includes top shelf comedians who know how to capitalize on an opportunity for a laugh. Unfortunately this script and the way it played out didn’t allow for much more than the occasional random chuckle. To me, Death at a Funeral was basically a series of crazy, ridiculous situations loosely strung together without comedic closure. This film has a really annoying way of making it painfully obvious that we are "supposed" to laugh at certain points. There were moments when I was genuinely amused, but the laughter seemed to be quickly fleeting. Danny Glover as the stodgy, grumpy uncle who wheels around this film yelling at people made me chuckle a time or two, but when Tracy Morgan ended up covered in his feces, I was done.

     Chris Rock is many things to many people, but when he tosses himself into a comedy and takes on the role of the only intentionally unfunny person in the entire film, I have to wonder what he was thinking. Playing it nonchalant compared to Martin Lawrence’s wacky brand of humor was a task that didn’t suit Rock very well. It wasn’t that he was bad in the role; it was more that he was boring and lifeless. His interactions with his on screen wife seemed forced and the attempted comedy bit about their efforts to have a child did little more than help distract me from everything else that was going on. Chris Rock is a decent comedian, but here he failed to impress and did so seemingly on purpose?

     It may seem like I have been harshly critical of this film, but I am a bit prejudiced in the fact that I loved the original 2007 version and I went into this rendition expecting mediocrity at best. I mean seriously, when James Marsden is attempting to fill the comedic shoes of Dodgeball’s "Steve the Pirate", what can you really expect? This cast does a decent job of making it work and there were some stand out moments, but all in all this film presents too many disconnected storylines that flat out fail to come together.