Why Did I Get Married?

You have to credit Mr. Perry for presenting to us what we so rarely get to see in American film; upper-class, professional African-American couples working through real-life relationship problems. Unfortunately, it's execution leaves a lot to be desired. Though Jill Scott turns in a spectacular performance, and Malik Joba and Tasha Smith are solid, the performances are uneven at best. It's a classic morality tale with more melodrama to fill an afternoon's worth of soap operas. Some of the characters are far too one-dimensional to be credible, including the absurdly sadistic Mike, and the nearly as absurd (and conveniently single) knight in shining armor, Sheriff Troy. There's something oddly antiseptic about the film. Even the arguments seem neat and clean, with well-defined in and out points. Sometimes it is shot like a film, sometimes (with awkward stage-like blocking), it is shot like a play being filmed in a theater proscenium. The screenplay (and direction) has some gaps of logic, but even more egregious is its exposition, which could be held up as a lesson to any aspiring screenwriter on how NOT to write it (eg, "Did you ever think we'd all turn out like this? Diane's a lawyer, I'm a doctor, you're a real estate mogul"). Unfortunately, this type of sloppy exposition abounds throughout. Realism and subtly take a vacation on this one, however, it's still a pleasant, if overly-simplistic, morality tale that's likable enough.

First of all I must say that I don't understand the low ranking, it is truly an underestimation of this film. I must admit that while I am a Tyler Perry fan I have been underwhelmed by his previous box office offerings. This film for me was a welcomed departure from his other films, it just seemed more professional, well directed, and the casting was phenomenal. Evan though it was rather preachy it seemed much less "after-school-specialish" than his initial movies. Jill Scott was amazing, Tasha Smith was Hilarious, and Janet Jackson wasn't as boring as she usually is. I hope this film is a precursor of more to come from Tyler Perry.

The film touches on some heavy points, but never really digs very deep. It's light weight, but that's fine.

The acting on the whole is good.......... Janet Jackson is a tad weak..... she was not that convincing.

I did like Jill Scott though.

I did like when the guys were just chatting, it felt really real and made me smile.

It's not ground breaking, it won't change your life, but it's fun in parts and some parts made me laugh out loud.

I think this a solid 5/10.

Last night I went to the threatre not knowing what I was going to see. Literally. I had no notion of what films were playing. I wanted to see "The Lost Legion" because I was in the mood for a swords and sandal epic, but it wasn't playing anywhere nearby. Would I not be able to see Roman legions clashing with native armies in Briton? Answer; no. So, I looked up at the list of films, saw "Why did I Get Married", and made a blind ticket purchase for a film I had never heard of, nor had any notion of what it was about.

I've never seen the stage-play upon which this film is based, but, having seen many a stage play adaptation to the big screen, and having been thoroughly disappointed with every one of them, I can say that this one did a fairly good job.

The revolves around several couples whose marriages are teetering in varying degrees of distress. Secrets that have been held tight by husband and wife are eventually thrust into the open, testing the couples' fortitude.

Visually the film is warm and intimate, and keeps a good amount of zest by way of fine emoting. There are some ever so brief lulls, but the story content and delivery by the actors keeps the viewer's attention.

The one "antagonist" in the film (if he can be called that) was almost a little too obvious. The boorish husband character was barely disguised as to his true intentions. So much so that I was wondering if the character wasn't supposed to be putting on some kind of act. But alas, that wasn't the case. It was a shortcoming of the creative team.

Most of the film is light, but there is one segment that came out of left field to break up wit bound dialog. The more dramatic scenes were respectable, but weren't always given the same amount of care to the lighter scenes.

My one real complaint about the story is that I felt somewhat lost as to who was suffering from what history. There's a lot implied, and the more relationship-savvy viewer can probably puzzle out the nuances and idiosyncrasies of marital secrets and scandal. But I have to admit that I just didn't get a lot of the situations until they were spelled out for me. Ah well :-) Some light entertainment that delivers an abridged version of a play with fairly good aplomb. It is a film marketed for an African American audience, but marital situations are universal to all, and as such this film can be enjoyed by all audiences (though your theatre's audience may vary). Definitely a good rent when it comes out on DVD.

Why this film is rated at 3.2 is beyond me. I truly have to believe that it is racism. Tyler Perry is not my favorite but he is not untalented either. Instead of showing African Americans as either crack heads or criminals he is trying to show that African American people hold important jobs, are educated and struggle with issues just like white people do. This movie was well written and entertaining, no doubt about it. It was funny and insightful, showing the ups and downs of marriage and also showing unconditional Love that has to come with a successful marriage.I think Tyler Perry is a wonderful example for African Americans,Strong and spiritual and not afraid to show his Faith in God in his movies and that is to be applauded. Why is it that you can't show movies of Faith now days but can show sex, violence and cursing in Movies with no problem at all? What is this society coming to? I would really like to know.