Salt Lake Tribune Review

What was a low-key British farce in 2007 is transformed into an overdone comedy set among a Los Angeles family whose patriarch has died. The eldest son, Aaron (played by Chris Rock), tries to arrange a dignified funeral while dealing with an ovulating wife (Regina Hall), a disrespectful mom (Loretta Devine), a famous but dishonest brother (Martin Lawrence), a grumpy uncle (Danny Glover), and a cousin (Zoë Saldaña) whose boyfriend (James Marsden) has accidentally ingested hallucinogens. Marsden and Peter Dinklage (reprising his role from the 2007 version) are funny, but some of the stars — Lawrence, Tracy Morgan and Luke Wilson especially — phone it in. Director Neil LaBute (who met Rock working on “Nurse Betty”) has a tin ear for fast-paced farce, and the actors too often step on each other’s laugh lines. Rock (one of the film’s producers) saddles himself with the thankless straight-man role, when he should be the funniest guy in the room.

-- Sean P. Means

Additional Photos