A couple of years ago, I happened upon a charming little British comedy called Death at a Funeral. The movie was directed by one of my heroes, Frank Oz, who had not only directed Little Shop of Horrors, The Dark Crystal and What About Bob?, he also had the privilege of voicing Miss Piggy for the past 25 or so years. The man’s genius is something I frankly don’t have the time to debate.
Thankfully, despite his history of also having directed some less than hilarious films, Death at a Funeral lived up to the Oz hype. Matthew Macfadyen headed up an admittedly supah-white cast of Brits and Americans, most notably Alan Tudyk and the most coveted little person in Hollywood, Peter Dinklage. The film did moderately OK, and died a slow, silent death.
But it’s back, people. The film has been remade by director Neil Labute (French for “the boot”), the only difference being that the not so famous white cast has been replaced by a super, super famous black cast. Indeed, three of our favorite comedians of all time — Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan — star in the remake alongside Zoe Saldana, James Marsden and Regina Hall.
In fact, the only thing the movie has in common with the original. Is Peter Dinklage. Who we will now refer to as The Missing Dinklage. There have to be other incredible little actors, but Dinklage is Hollywood’s go to. Does the guy have Little Mafia ties or what?
Anyway, we do believe this marks the first remake of a film 3 years later where the only difference happens to be the race of the actors portraying the characters. But because of the inclusion of Martin Lawrence, we will let this slide, see it, and most likely enjoy it.
Check out the trailer ahead.
