Madea's Family Reunion

I expected a comedy like the "Big Mama" movies. Instead, the movie was a bizarre mix of comedy, drama and a love story.

This movie has three plots: The first involves Madea and her taking in a foster child. The second involves a woman who is engaged to a rich man who is abusing her. The third involves a relationship between a single mother with 2 children and a single father.

There is actually very little comedy in the movie. There are also a number of very twisted messages in the movie. For example, Madea beats the foster child with a belt (in a comedic manner), to convince the child to straighten out. The child does, in fact, turn herself around. Apparently, it pays to beat children.

There are plots dealing with child rape (with the consent of the mother). There are scenes with old men ogling young girls who are related to them. (The ogling takes place at a family reunion.) The movie jumps from plot to plot such that you are always off-balance. Is this a comedy, a love story, or a drama? It is, in fact, nothing ... except a waste of time and money.

Good to see movies with a great story line being made, without a lot of special effects and stuff, it was well directed and with fantastic comic relief. Had a positive message and the acting was superb. Tyler just gets better and better with each outing. What a major talent, writer, director, actor... I only saw Diary last year and was really impressed. So I couldn't wait to check this out when it hit the streets. Some scenes are pretty intense and as mentioned, very well acted. Then boom, Madea's back in your face with her antics. A good mixture of drama and comedy, everything jelled. I highly recommend this movie, hopefully he'll have another one next Feb.

This movie made me laugh over and over again, I cried a little too and even experienced anxiety during the dramatic scenes, but most of all I loved the way Tyler continues to make his creations true to life. All of us have times of Joy, sadness and emotional upset in our lives. I will purchase every movie and play Tyler writes, produces, directs and stars in. We need more real life movies these days to bring us back to reality. The fact that Tyler chooses great actors to portray his characters and both young and old actors to share the fame and wealth is very touching to me. I hope Tyler continues to takes his plays and movies to the communities, so that we can laugh and share the joy with friends and family members.

In Tyler Perry's second movie installment he has issues of domestic abuse,a controlling parent,and taking in a foster child. The problem some people have with this movie is that the subject matters of this movie has nothing to do with comedy. But Tyler Perry can put in a way to make people laugh. Now beating a fiancé or spouse is a serious matter,forcing an offspring to marry for selfish gain isn't funny,and another offspring trying to find love again sounds more like drama. But this movie is drama with a comic twist and Tyler Perry is brilliant enough to make the viewers laugh instead of continuing to be overwhelmed with such intensed scenes. I haven't seen a black family movie like this since Soul Food(1997). Tyler Perry is the new well-known sassy and outspoken character Madea who is the biggest comic relief in the movie. Blair Underwood is the snobbish Carlos who continually tries to impress his upscale colleagues and beat his fiancé behind closed doors. Recently Underwood been playing this same character but without the abuse in the movies like "Something New" and "G". I think Blair Underwood is starting to be type-casted. Though anyway Madea family reunion is a good movie but some scenes could have been left out (Madea's husband checking out the young relative and Madea beating the child with a belt). Still the movie is worth seeing.

Tyler Perry movies are always, what the kids call "Gay". It's not just the fact that he does most of his movies in drag, or that the movies spend a good 30-50 percent of the movie bashing men, it's that Tyler Perry's movies are always black Christian chick flicks.

The women are always these very thin, demure, beauties with long relaxed hair that are in unhappy marriages or relationships with these handsome, successful, super rich and super EVIL black men. They are always emotionally damaged damsels that don't want to get into another relationship.

There is always a very handsome, clean-cut Christian black man with dreamy eyes, who is always there for them (but not in a sexual way of course). The guy is always built like a brick outhouse, like he's got to spend more time working out in a gym than reading his bible. The woman eventually addresses her demons and surrenders her heart to the good Christian man.

Madea (when she's not wearing her ankle locator bracelet) is always there to talk about those good old fashioned values, when you can bitch slap a child who's misbehaving and how a woman needs to fight their oppressive male friends. Mr. Perry also plays her horn dog, pot smoking brother who Madea is living with. There is always some comical banter between those two.

I know that Tyler Perry is providing an alternative to the other blacksploitation films that are out on the market. The majority of African Americans are good, hard-working middle-class people and they've got to be tired of the images of "gangsta" urban blacks in the media. On the other hand, there are those "gangsta" elements in Tyler Perry's movies also, and the drama in dealing with those elements, so there's a little there too.

I'm not saying that Tyler Perry's movies are bad. They are very good, well done movies from their church plays. They are very viewable and enjoyable. It would be a much better TV series material, except that viewers would quickly become aware of how similar each story is to each other.

"Madea's Family Reunion" stands out, in that it features Cicely Tyson and the honorable poet, Dr. Maya Angelou. The preaching of where the family had come from slave beginnings and how the family needs to take care of each other was great. However, the woman beater, portrayed by Blair Underwood was written as such a psycho fiancé that it held such an unbelievably plot point to the drama. His character was just put in as an excuse to get back at him at the end. And, thus my main comment from above.

It's OK, Tyler Perry, but give us something new.