Rating:  

Starring: Tyler Perry, Loretta Devine, Cassi Davis, Shannon Kane, Isaiah Mustafa, Natalie Desselle, Rodney Perry, Tamela J. Mann, David Mann, Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, Teyana Taylor, Lauren London, Phillip Anthony-Rodriguez, Maury Povich.
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Director: Tyler Perry
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 106 Mins.
Release Date: April 22, 2011
Home Video Release Date: August 30, 2011
Box Office: $53.3 Million
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The Tyler Perry Company and Lionsgate.

Written by: Tyler Perry, adapted from his play of the same name.

I am at an absolute loss as to what appeal Tyler Perry’s films have with people. If you want to chalk this up as a cultural or racial divide, then fine. If defenders of his work cite Perry as a necessary and groundbreaking voice, who finally brought forth faith-based Christian ideals and themes to the big screen, then I simply ask that you look for a better voice. You see, with “…Madea’s Big, Happy, Family”, Tyler Perry is hoarse, lip-synching off of his greatest hits, and has become tone deaf as a filmmaker and screenwriter. Not that he could carry much of a tune to begin with.

Perry pulls out his wig and housedress ensemble for yet another run as Madea, the certifiably insane (note: not funny) matriarch of the Simmons/Brown clan. In this installment, Madea learns that her niece, Shirley (Loretta Devine), is suffering from terminal cancer and may not have long left to live. When her sister, Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), informs her of this, Madea steps in and attempts to gather all of Shirley’s children, and their respective families, to come together for a family dinner so Shirley can share her news. Naturally, dysfunction rules the day and nothing goes according to plan, leaving Shirley’s family working through new and suppressed problems, Shirley trying to hold on with her health, and Madea crowbarring her wit and wisdom into any and every situation she can.

Tyler Perry has ambition, I will grant him that. And yet absent from that ambition is a willingness to challenge himself and move forward or explore new themes and ideas. Fans of his can point to 2010′s “For Colored Girls”, an adaptation of a book many declared unfilmable, as proof that he can be innovative and break new ground. Fine. But then, why trot out Madea again? Frankly, it’s good for business.

And business is clearly what drives Tyler Perry. In a remix track with Kanye West a few years back, iconic rapper Jay-Z declared “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man…” And this sums Perry up to a T. He is a filmmaker that has earned equal doses of respect and criticism from his main target audience, the African-American community. Initially, his Christian faith-based films featuring predominantly all-Black casts were viewed as innovative, groundbreaking, and even important. When “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman” debuted in 2005 and blew the doors off the box office, people outside of Perry’s target audience were asking who Tyler Perry was, where he came from, and how he landed the #1 film at the box office. However, now it is 2011, Perry makes approximately two films per year (believe me it shows) and is either still coasting on catching the world by surprise in 2005 or is simply fulfilling a want and a need that precludes a desire for logic, sensibility, and good taste. Whatever it is, Perry remains bankable and is likely not going away anytime soon.

Look, whatever. I mean Tyler Perry films are directed by Perry in a Paint-By-Numbers style with no discernible visual flair or skill, they are written so arrogantly heavy-handed by Perry that any important message he is trying to convey rings muted, exhausted, and emaciated. Perry wholeheartedly champions the belief that we all make mistakes, but if we adopt a Christian lifestyle and seek forgiveness whenever we sin, everything will be alright.

While I am not intending to tread on anyone’s religious beliefs, Perry’s films are hogwash because invariably, every single one of his characters will make an awful decision, causing serious mental and even at times, physical harm on people, and nothing of true consequence ever happens to them. Frankly, it is nauseating. People don’t live their lives skating from one moment to the next, lacking the ability to discern right from wrong, only to have others remind them that their actions are harmful. Ergo, Perry’s films are disingenuous to their core. However, until someone delivers consistently strong African-American themed films that speak to the heart of the culture and can deliver them to the masses more than every once in awhile, then this is the representation we, as moviegoers, have to endure, when we choose to watch a film branded with Tyler Perry’s name.

I’m not a businessman, I’m a business man? Indeed.

Should I See It?

YES

I don’t know. If you are a fan of Tyler Perry’s work, then you are thrilled to have another one of his films to savor and enjoy.

Oh when that Tyler Perry dresses up as that Madea (fill in the blank…).

NO

Everyone else not mentioned in the sentence to the left. I cannot recommend any of Tyler Perry’s films – they are amateurish, arrogant, and hypocritical. I appreciate the niche he fulfills in making these films, but the fact that his work is so respected by audiences makes me weep.