Plot: What’s it about?
I suppose I became a fan of director Neil LaBute back in 1997. I was watching Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel dish the goods on “At the Movies” when Roger Ebert was going over his best movie villains of the year. As it turns out, one of them was a corporate man known simply as Chad (played to perfection by Aaron Eckhart). Chad was on a six month assignment at a remote office and decided to make a woman fall in love with him. As it turns out this woman was deaf and he does indeed break her heart for the mere fun of it. It was this kind of movie that I’d never really seen before about things that you know had to happen to inspire the screenplay. LaBute, an accomplished director of the stage as well, then cranked out a few more films and not much was heard of him. So when I saw “Death at a Funeral” it didn’t really look like my cup of tea. Then I saw Neil LaBute directed it and had to give it a shot. Would it be “In the Company of Men” all over again or would I be in for a totally new experience? Let’s find out.
Aaron (Chris Rock) and his brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence) have just lost their father. Aaron and his wife (Regina Hall) are trying their best to have a child, but with no success. He’s an aspiring writer, though Ryan has had all of the success having been a published author several times over. As their family arrives at the funeral, we get to meet an interesting variety of characters including Oscar (James Mardsen), who mistakenly takes some LSD thinking it was a valium, Frank (Peter Dinklage) a supposed lover of the deceased and Uncle Russell (Danny Glover), the cantankerous member of the group. Naturally with all of this going on, there’s not really a linear plot line, but we get enough bits and pieces here and there to form a viable story and laugh along the way. There’s really not much more to the plot than that. The movie takes place over the course of an afternoon and we get to see the highs (literally) and lows of one outrageous family.
Having referenced “In the Company of Men” in the opening paragraph might have misled a few people, and I might have been misled when I saw Neil LaBute’s name attached to the film as director. Granted, not every movie can be alike and LaBute is more known for his hard-edged films than something like this. Admittedly “Death at a Funeral” has some genuinely funny, if not totally uncomfortable, moments. It’s got the right mix of drama and humor that does make it work and seeing Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence on screen together is nearly worth the price of admission in itself. Seeing this movie made me think of “The Royal Tenenbaums” in sheer regards to the family aspect of it. I consider “The Royal Tenenbaums” probably my favorite film of the last decade, so in that respect “Death at a Funeral” doesn’t really hold a candle to that film. That said, the movie is enjoyable and isn’t nearly as dark as the title might suggest and I think those who view it will be satisfied.
Video: How does it look?
“Death at a Funeral” is presented in a very attractive 2.40:1 AVC HD transfer. As I previously mentioned, the movie takes place during the course of an afternoon, so we don’t really get any nighttime shots. The general ambiance is very crisp and colorful, with some earthy tones taking front and center here. Contrast is right on the mark and flesh tones seem normal as well. The indoor shots looks pretty good as well, lacking any sort of artifacting or inconsistencies that might be associated with a sub par transfer. Simply put, this looks as we’d expect a new to Blu-ray film to look and that’s all we can ask for.
Audio: How does it sound?
On the audio front, we get a DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack that sounds acceptable, though nothing too terribly memorable. LaBute isn’t a big fan of dynamic audio in his films; in fact I remember in “Your Friends and Neighbors” that I literally had to turn up my receiver to almost full volume just to hear the dialogue. That’s not the issue here, however. The action mainly takes place along the front stage with some surrounds offering a bit of support here and there. A good mix, but suitable for the film.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Sony has given “Death at a Funeral” a pretty diverse, yet expected, round of supplements. We start off with a commentary track by LaBute and actor Chris Rock as they give us their input on the film. It’s not a bad track, full of some one liners and some information about the shoot. We also have a selection of deleted scenes as well as a few featurettes: “Family Album”, “Death For a Real” and “Death at a Funeral: Last Rites, Dark Secrets.” The disc is also MovieIQ enhanced, offering some factoids and extra information at certain points along the way.
