Madea - Reunião de Família

I rented the DVD and watched this movie three times before returning it. I bought the DVD to watch parts of it often enough to keep me keeping on just like Medea does. The show inspired me. I laughed tears. Funny thing was my daughter called and told me to watch it because it reminded her of me, her grandmother, and great-grandmother. It made me so brave that when my 29 year old son (semi-brain damaged drug addict) came through the house popping his mouth off at me I went into "Medea Mode". I jumped back with, "This is my house and I will whoop your butt no matter how old or big you are! I rattled on with I'll catch you asleep and beat the s--- right out of you. And on Medea Mode I rode! Sons and grandkids broke out laughing and going crazy cause NAN was back. Get on out of here boy, I don't want to see your ugly face for awhile." It sure felt good. Medea is my hero. No Tyler Perry is. Thank you. You are writing my life. Whew! Do I have stuff you should hear!

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.

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.

"Madea's Family Reunion" is a stage play adapted to screen by the original playwright Tyler Perry. Tyler Perry has a huge following because of the success of his stage plays and the DVD sales of those stage plays as well as his movie "A Diary of a Mad Black woman" This movie starts out kinda of slow with a lot of weird shots and angles, but this one is directed by Tyler Perry. This is his first time behind the camera, so that made me a little forgiving.

About 10 minutes into the movie you as the plot point was established so did those weird shots. This movie is very inspiring like all of Tyler Perry works. It is by no means a Christian movie, but is an healthy alternative for the movies put out by mainstream Hollywood.

There was a very complex story line that was dealt with in this movie. Many movie goers can really empathize with all of the main characters. Blair Underwood and Lynn Whitfield were absolutely marvelous in this movie.

In my review of "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" I suggested that Tyler Perry cast a real actor in the role of Madea to give the movie more believability. Him playing Madea on stage works great, but it doesn't work as well in a play if he insists on playing himself and the uncle, you shouldn't have other characters that look just like you. He should really take a not from Eddie Murphy, although he played several different characters in the Klumps they each all looked different to an extent. Madea her son and her nephew and her brother all look exactly alike. He should either give up doing Madea or give up the other two roles.

This movie in-spite my objections to his casting himself, was quite good. It dealt with a love story of a woman who could not overlook her dark childhood. A woman who seemed trapped in an abusive relationship. And the family reunion was a glimpse into how modern blacks have strayed away from the struggles of the past generations.

It was such an awkward scene to have those old men lusting after their own cousin.

This movie was not written to be an Academy Award Caliber movie so I can't judge it as such. I really think it played to it's idea target audience perfectly.

My family who live in South Mississippi all went to see this movie together. That's over 20 people who normally don't go to the movies went out as a family to see this one. This movie has a huge drawing power amongst blacks of all ages. My elderly grandmother went to see this movie the last movie that she saw was guess? "Diary of a Mad Black Woman".

Tyler Perry keep on making your plays into movies, because you have some good messages and you are able to draw people that Hollywood could only dream of!

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.