Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story

The seasons of his life, childhood, teen years. Early adult hood were beautifully reproduced and garnered an immense amount of depth to assist in understanding the man - Tyler Perry. This documentary also allows the viewer to share his life's challenges, losses and failures and how he achieved mass success both career wise and financial successes. It extremely emotional documentary for me to digest. What I most appreciated about this documentary was it also showed the parasitic criticism of so many people who failed to understand that Tyler Perry is more than an a self centered business icon but a man with a plan that exceeds any criticism. He is portrayed as of of a man of vision that has catapulted him into national and international success. Just looking at the timeline and tracking his success (to this point). -- An American Story of the Fulfillment of Dreams. And philosophical lessons for many to learn. There is a Part Two to this story yet to be written and you can feel the power of commitment to the development of more and more groundbreaking achievement.

Baby first of all let me say I don't play bout my Uncle Tyla. Second, I loved the documentary. I truly did. I just finished watching it for the second time. I've seen the critical reviews and I kind of agree with their points about the biopic not going into too much depth. With that being said, oh well! Tyler Perry aint gotta go into depth, he don't owe us that. Today's climate makes people feel entitled to an explanation on people's lives. If someone close to someone dies, social media demands a long drawn out post and obvious sadness to validate that person's grief. I did find out a few things I didn't know. I remember him loosely describing the inspiration behind the Madea character but this story gave me a full understanding of how that character came about. It culminated beautifully to explain exactly where his pain came from and exactly how and why he manifested it the way he did. Of all that Tyler Perry has gave in inspiration, a voice to our community, opportunity, film making, a platform, his studio, to name a few. He don't owe us a thing else. He's well deserving of everything great that has come his way and everything that's left to come. I've not seen every show but I've always loved and respected him for doing them because I understood his vision and, like him, could see the bigger picture. This documentary, like a lot of his other work may not be to everyone's satisfaction or expectations but his fans will continue to support him and I don't think he mad at that. I liked it so much I made this account to write a review. Don't play with my uncle tyla! :)

My wife and I recently watched Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story (2023) on Prime. The storyline delves into Tyler Perry's upbringing, family dynamics, and inner struggles, showcasing how he used these experiences to fuel his success, work ethic, and determination.

Co-directed by Gelila Bekele (Tyler Perry's child's mother) and Armani Ortiz (Ruthless), the film provides a profound exploration of Tyler Perry's family dynamic and how he coped with it. The message that "you aren't the only one out there, and you can be successful too" resonates well. While I appreciated the journey of his artistry and success, I wished they had delved more into his partnerships and investments, exploring the artistry behind business collaborations. It could have been interesting to learn more about his collaboration with Opera.

In conclusion, the human aspects of this documentary are a solid 10/10, and I'm grateful Perry shared his story. I would rate this documentary a 9/10 and highly recommend it.

Greetings again from the darkness. For those who have scoffed at the "Madea" movies, or the periodic screen appearances of Tyler Perry in supporting roles, this documentary from Gelila Bekele (she and Perry share a child) and Armani Ortiz will open your eyes to the money-making machine and unstoppable force that is Tyler Perry. Clearly more of a tribute to his accomplishments than a deep dive into the man, his business, and his life, the film leaves us with full respect for what he has accomplished, as well as an understanding of an industry mogul who maintains complete control of his projects.

The opening credits play like a four-minute trailer for the movie we are about to watch, and that's likely for the benefit of those who haven't been paying attention to Perry's ongoing success and his building of a media empire over the last two decades. Time is spent on his childhood in New Orleans, where sadly, he was so severely mistreated by his father that he later changed his name from Emmett Perry Jr to Tyler, in order to create the emotional distance he needed.

His close friend Oprah Winfrey states that Perry "turned pain into power", and most of the film details how he went from self-financing a small theater production to constructing the sprawling Tyler Perry Studios on a 330-acre site in Atlanta that was originally the Confederate Army base, Fort McPherson. In fact, the 2019 grand opening of the studios is used as a bit of defining structure throughout, although it times, bouncing back and forth gives a sense of redundancy.

The studios are quite impressive, as is the fact that Perry accomplished this outside of the traditional Hollywood system. And other than the remarkable 'rags-to-riches' story, it's Perry's ability to blaze his own unconventional trail that garners the most respect. He recognized the underserved and underestimated Black audience and committed to providing material for "his audience". Beginning with his first movie, DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (2005), Perry worked his plan. While the critics bashed, the film cashed. Lionsgate President Michael Paseornek took notice, and again, Perry bucked the system by demanding creative control, ownership of his work, and establishing new parameters for TV series and syndication.

Perry's work ethic is dwelled upon here, as is his love for his mother Willie Maxine Perry, who shows up in some clips and photos. Cousin Lucky Johnson offers the most insightful personal observations of what Perry's traumatic childhood was like, lending credence to the remarkable success. Perry's determination is beyond reproach, as is his mental toughness and ability to stick to his focus on control and ownership. The music/score of the film is frequently intrusive and overbearing, often distracting from the story, and the film is probably 20 to 30 minutes longer than it should be. However, taking a love-fest approach makes sense in this case, as Tyler Perry has progressed from dreamer to achiever, and the lessons are crystal clear.

Releases on Prime Video on November 17, 2023.

Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story is a beautiful movie. This documentary is so inspiring with lessons on the importance of forgiveness, faith and perseverance. And I learned so much about Tyler Perry!

The movie reveals the childhood trauma that Tyler Perry went through and shows how he became the most successful African American filmmaker we all know. It's also a tribute to his late mother, Maxine, hence the title of the movie.

According to co-directors Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz, this movie took ten years to make. I had no idea what Tyler went through as a child because he had a pretty private life, so it was incredible to learn more about him and see how strong he is. We already know about his success, but in this documentary, we get to see all the challenges he faced. It highlights many aspects of his life like his faith, his abusive father, his previous studios, the start of his famous character Madea and the impact he had on the movie industry. Something else that is interesting that I learned about from this film is that Tyler Perry's newest studio is on an old confederate army base in Atlanta, which really makes this movie come full circle. The beauty of this rich documentary is that it provides so many different points of views from so many different people and perspectives. We hear from his supporters, his haters, his family, and his friends, such as Oprah Winfrey, Ozzie Areu, Gayle King and Ari Emanuel. In addition to hearing from all of these people, the movie also uncovers never-before-seen videos of Maxine Perry, Tyler's mom, which is really special since she has passed away and she's the movie's namesake.

The film's message is all about forgiveness. Even after all the abuse, Tyler was able to forgive and move on from his trauma, which really allowed him to grow. Be aware that this movie deals with abuse, has a few graphic images and also some profanity.

I give Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. It releases on Prime Video on November 17, 2023. By Katherine S., KIDS FIRST!