Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence Are Stiff in Tepid ‘Death at a Funeral’

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CHICAGO – When some of the funniest comedians in the business – Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan – can’t deliver a absurdist comedy about family secrets, then there truly is “Death at a Funeral.”

Rating: 3.0/5.0

When the patriarch of an African American clan dies, his real and extended family gather for the funeral. Chris Rock is the oldest son Aaron, followed by the younger brother, Ryan (Martin Lawrence). Ryan is the prodigal son, admired by his relatives in his occupation as a writer, but preferring not to participate in the day-to-day family circumstance.

The extended family includes Aaron’s cousin Elaine (Zoe Saldana), who is inviting the wrath of her father (Ron Glass), by bringing her fiancé Oscar (James Marsden) to the service. Matters are further complicated by family friend Derek (Luke Wilson), who still professes love for Elaine, and his friend Norman (Tracy Morgan), who says he is “like family” to the clan, a notion that everyone dismisses.

Throw in an wheelchair bound and aging Uncle Russell (Danny Glover), a misplaced bottle of the hallucinogen Mescaline (that everyone mistakes for Valium) and a mysterious stranger named Frank (Peter Dinklage), and this funeral would be better off as a closed casket ceremony when it comes to revealing secrets.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Death at a Funeral”

Tracy is as Tracy Does: Tracy Morgan as Norman and Chris Rock as Aaron in ‘Death at a Funeral’ Photo Credit: Phil Bray for © 2010 Screen Gems, Inc.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Death at a Funeral”