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Martin Lawrence’s character, Ryan, repeatedly tells his older brother Aaron, Chris Rock, to leave him alone because he is “grieving.”

It would makes sense for him to be displaying a lot of sorrow, considering the two are at a funeral service for their father.

However, grief is about the last thing on anyone’s mind in “Death at a Funeral,” a remake of Frank Oz’s 2007 outrageous British comedy with the same title. Dean Craig writes both movies.

In the new version, there are many similarities—a psychedelic drug trip by an outsider, a blackmailing little person and a grumpy old uncle.

The movie’s comedic strength stems from its wide variety of characters and the actors who animate their parts, but the film’s greatest might comes from the irony of the plot—nobody is showing any grief at this man’s funeral.

Rather every character has a very inward look going into the funeral, whether it is Michelle’s (Regina Hall) obsession with conceiving a child, or Derek’s (Luke Wilson) plan to win back Elaine (Zoe Saldana), who aims to tell her father that she is engaged to Oscar (James Marsden), who desperately wants to win her father’s approval but ends up in a funny predicament of his own.

The remaining members of the ensemble cast, Tracy Morgan, Peter Dinklage, Keith David, Danny Glover and Columbus Short, all deliver comical turns.

Dinklage, who was the only member from the original movie, reprises his role as the unknown, suspicious looking guest at the funeral for a family man, who is believed to have lived a normal life.

In the original, Dinklage is Peter, in this one his name is Frank, but it makes no difference, his character is after one thing and that’s money.

He propels the movie to the point of absurdity, after the initial ceremony is destroyed.

Desperately wanting to gain Aaron’s recognition so he can tell him what he is there for, Frank wanders the house simply going unnoticed.

What follows is a confrontation that results in more than just one body in the casket that has already been accused of moving.

The movie follows the same structure as the original, cutting back and forth from each character or pair of characters as they try to make it through the long and unique day.

“Death at a Funeral” makes death look funny, while delivering a bigger, more meaningful message about family and respecting the dead.