Last night, my mother and I decided to go to the premiere of the newest Tyler Perry film, "A Madea Christmas". We have seen all of the Madea films for the first time in the passed three months, and we have come to love Tyler very much as a writer and director. For me, the last two Madea films, "Madea Goes to Jsil" and "Madea's Witness Protection" just weren't that good. My mother, however, loved them even more than the original two films. "A Madea Christmas" has exactly what the previous films were missing: heart and a message. Tyler truly created a good little play-like film that explores themes still relevant to today. Anyways, let me begin the actual review, rather than my backstory.
When Madea's niece tells her mother that she cannot make it home for Christmas this year, the mother begs Madea to drive her down South to see her daughter for the holiday. Once again, we have a hilarious caper of twists and turns that make us laugh and cry, that touch us and uplift us. I prefer to call this film more of a dramedy than a comedy. It's serious, yet lighthearted.
Tyler Perry's writing is all-in-all brilliant, in my opinion. He knows how to craft characters as well as craft hilarious scenes. Sometimes Perry even drops one-liners that either make us laugh, drop our jaws, and sometimes he makes us do both. The man has a heart, and I love that about him. Tyler's films typically get low ratings for no reason whatsoever. They continually kill me with laughter, and this one shocks me the most. I found it to be the funniest out of all five films, but it is definitely not my favorite. It marches in order after "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and then "Madea's Big Happy Family".
The acting in this film was excellent, as well! Chad Michael Murray dominates a role as the town tough guy, whilst a small boy (surprisingly playing Chad Michael Murray's character's son) touches everyone's heart who watches the film. I nearly cried at one point, due to how exceptional this young man's acting skills were. He deserves so many awards for what he did with his character. My main attraction for the film was Larry the Cable Guy. That man has done so many awful comedy sketches, but even HE did a fantastic job with his character! The main characters weren't cookie-sheet cut-outs, but legitimate people, in my eyes. They all felt real, and so did this whole caper Madea was drug into.
The plot has many different story threads taking place, as well as many themes Tyler Perry has thrown in that correlate directly with things like "keeping Christ in Christmas" debates taking place in this day-and-age.
The film is absolutely hilarious, yet heartfelt. I laughed, I teared-up, and I cheered in awe at the ending song. My audience was so into the film that no one happened to be texting, or anything! What a wonderful experience! The only thing missing from the film, in my opinion, was Madea's husband. He has always been my favorite character, and I was disappointed that he didn't appear whatsoever, even as a cameo. I couldn't help but take a star away for his absence.
It isn't the best movie of the year, but I'm happy to see Mr. Perry get his footing right, this time around. I will continue to watch these fun-filled movies.
Enjoy, and God bless, my friends! Praise The Lord and Merry Christmas!
