Madea's Big Happy Family

I have to make a confession. I watch Tyler Perry's Madea films. OK, JUST HEAR ME OUT! Now, I think they're all FAR from perfect films, but at the very least, I do enjoy watching the portions featuring Madea. Such was the case of my latest viewing, Madea's Big Happy Family. It's a bit embarrassing to say, but let's just get down to my review.

First of all, we have a tangled web of subplots. The mother of a family, Shirley, is devastated to discover that her case of cancer has worsened, prompting her to plan a family dinner to tell her children about her condition. This includes her daughters, Kimberly and Tammy. Kimberly is a secretive woman (Improperly focused character #1), and Tammy is having trouble with her marriage, and her two disobedient children. This also includes Byron, a man on an unlucky streak, having served jail time for selling drugs, and behind on paying child support to his insufferably obnoxious ex-girlfriend. There's also some drama between Cora and Mr. Brown. But leave it to Madea to set things straight, and not be afraid to beat the living hell out of anyone who steps out of line.

This movie is textbook Tyler Perry. As always, he gathers together a cast that could have been quite good, with good material, but their characters are inconsistently written, and their focus tends to blur because the script is overly cluttered with subplots. It's not a problem because they're hard to follow (They really aren't), but it's because it doesn't give these characters all the attention they deserve.

This isn't even mentioning Tyler Perry's ubiquitous switch in tone. His rhythm moves as comedic scene, dramatic scene, comedic scene, etc. I think the comedy portions are better than the dramatic portions, but the flip flopping between the two makes things feel dull. At the end of the day, I didn't emotionally connect with the story like I feel I should have. For once, I wish Perry would construct a film that's sure of what it wants to be.

I give it ** out of ****

What can you honestly say about the new Madea movie? The fact of the matter is, there isn't much to say. Why Tyler Perry keeps cranking out the same movie over and over again with a different title is beyond me. Not to say that the film was a complete waste. It had many humorous and heart-wrenching moments. The only problem is, we've seen them all before. There is not a huge difference between this and Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea Goes to Jail, etc. It's a Tyler Perry move. You get what you came for. Do not go into this movie expecting anything but a low-brow comedy with a few dramatic scenes to balance out the humor. With a man of his talent, it's disappointing to see Perry cranking out the same old movies with the same old characters. I feel that if he really tried, he could go into totally new territory and amaze us all with his artistic talents, but until he moves beyond Madea and the same old plot elements, we may never know Tyler Perry's full capabilities. All in all, it was a funny and touching movie but it's been done before.

A typical Madea movie, some funny moments and some not so funny moments. The people were rude as hell which made it a bit annoying.

I was never familiar with Perry's work. I started with Madeas witness protection and then I was pleasantly surprised so I watched another one which was Madeas big happy family. I have to admit I had very low expectations for this movie and I watched it at night before going to sleep thinking I would fall asleep on a normal regular movie but then the dialogue had me laughing and the story and the characters were just interesting enough for me to watch it until the very last minute. very enjoyable, I would recommend this movie for any couple who wants to have a light evening of fun. Obviously this is no masterpiece Nor a classic but people who give this movie a rating of one should have some sense slapped into them. Heller??? Okay I will admit the plot is often far-fetched but the characters are credible enough for me and there are some really funny moments. I also loved the approached the movie had with the topic of death. Touching, genuine, funny. I would give the witness protection movie a six out of 10 and this one seven out of 10 because I really don't agree with the low score on here.

Why not just go ahead and call this movie Soul Food 2? Only this rip off of that nicely done comedy-drama from 1997 is not even close. The brilliantly funny Loretta Divine, who first stole the show in Waiting to Exhale (1995), can't even save this movie. Here Divine play Shirley, a dying matriarch of a very dysfunctional family (just like Soul Food). But the movie never really takes off like Soul Food did. The film is infused with director/producer Tyler Perry's brand of comedy for one thing, which has become way past tired and stale.

There were a few good laughs, but overall, the movie just wasn't that funny when it tries so hard to be and all the high family drama is so predictable in Perry's movies to the point that we just don't feel sorry for these individuals when we should because, quite frankly, Perry uses the same formula over and over and over again. He always has these extreme cases of domestic violence or verbal abuse in his movies, only for everything to work out like roses in the end. And to top that off in this movie in particular, there is a high amount of overacting and bad acting. At least in his previous films there was pretty much good performances by the cast. That was the only thing that saved his movies. Not this time.

And the whole Medea routine, it's been played to the hilt. I hope Perry realizes soon that there's no more in the tank. Retire the Medea routine. Show us that you are more than a one trick pony. Come up with something new please!

Along with Tyler Perry and Loretta Divine, the movie also stars Chad "Bow Wow" Moss, and Lauren London. The rest of the cast is really not worth mentioning. Just think about the characters and plot of Soul Food when you watch this. Or better yet, skip this movie all together and just go rent Soul Food.