More than very weird, is the reality that this is a remake of a 2007 movie – already? You have to ask why it’s been remade considering the original was very good and just three years have passed in the meanwhile. It’s gone from a very white English cast to a very black American cast. Is it that the makers don’t believe that the English accents work well in the US or is it that they believe that only black guys can be so funny at a funeral?
Maybe it is the fact that a brilliant movie took less than $10 million in the US ($40 million in other countries) and knowing how good it is, can they milk the US audience properly this time?
So what’s it all about?
When Aaron and Ryan’s father passes away, their family and friends join them at their father’s funeral resulting in a series of comedic and unfortunate events. They soon find out that their father was living a double life as a gay man. The plot thickens when the father’s gay partner shows up
The original was quite brilliant; one of the funniest movies of the year and as a DVD or a download owner, deserves regular repeat plays. It has already been remade once. In 2009, it was called Daddy Cool in a Bollywood remake. Only Peter Dinklage appears in both the UK and the US versions; otherwise the cast is vastly different. Keeley Hawes and Jane Asher were quite superb in the UK, along with the dazzling Kris Marshall.
Dean Craig’s screenplay is a master perfectionist at work. Let’s hope they don’t change too much for the US version and that it’s just as funny with Chris Rock taking the lead.
The brilliant Frank Oz directed the UK version without a Muppet in sight; another hope is that Neil LaBute’s transferring to an American audience doesn’t cause too many visual changes. It worked just fine they way it was.
I have a feeling that most people will go rent the UK version and see what this new version lacks; unsaid acting humor as opposed to in your face funnies.
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