O Natal de Madea

Is this some major award winner?

No.

Is it at least a Christmas classic? An every year watch?

Maybe for some.

Is it a great holiday film for at least Madea fans?

Now, that's probably true.

So, what's wrong with that?

People that watch these movies know exactly what they are getting.

And they love it.

And this time they get it in December.

I either like these movies or I love them.

I like and love this one.

I love the casting choices.

I love Larry The Cable Guy as the father in law.

Now, Tyler Perry's writing and directing is always super sappy and syrupy, but if you can't be sappy and syrupy at the holidays, when can you be?

I actually prefer the Boo Halloween movies to this one, but I still liked this one.

And compared to the other films on this above titled list that I've created, this one is an award winner.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

The mother and the daughter make this movie almost unwatchable! The daughter not telling the mom about her relationship when she had countless times and her mother being SO annoying that you want to smack her! It's absolutely ridiculous! Madea is literally the only saving grace of this movie!

Let me first say that I am a fan of the man Tyler Perry. His struggles, his perseverance, his rise to fame are inspirational to me and to so many others. He has had a hand full of good movies: A Diary of Mad Black Woman, The Family that Preys and the first Why Did We Get Married. Then, he has several movies that have a character and/or a scene and/or a particular actor/actress I like in them. I usually enjoy these movies and could see them again. Then there are the truly awful movies like the second Why Did We Get Married.

Madea's Christmas is in the second group. I enjoyed this movie more than I expected to. There were some opportunities to laugh out loud. The cast was fine especially Anna Marie Horsford and Larry the Cable Guy. There were the poignant moments and once I actually had a tear trying to pop up in one eye. Seeing Blair from the Facts of Life was nice.

If you are expecting an Oscar worthy movie, you will get your feelings hurt. If you want a movie you can enjoy with your family (they could have edited out the use of a particular curse word), you will be okay.

So basically, A Madea Christmas was nothing more than a Hallmark movie with a higher production value. This was the first Tyler Perry movie I've seen, and I'm pretty sure this will be my last.

The improv scenes including Larry the Cable Guy is this films only saving grace. Other than that, it's a very mundane movie with a weak character arc and and lazy story telling.

I truly believe that Mr Perry used the writers from The Hallmark Channel and asked them to write a generic, by the numbers script and have himself and Larry improvise scenes that add nothing to the story. It just seemed lazy to me.

A Madea Christmas (2013) is a movie that I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows Madea's good friend that pays her to drive her to the country to see her daughter after the daughter informed the mom she isn't coming home for Christmas. The daughter has a secret she's not ready to share with her mom...she married a white man. When the mother unexpectantly arrives at her daughter's house her new husband has to pretend to not be her husband. Further complicating matters is the husband's family is coming over for Christmas.

This movie is written, stars and directed by Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman) and also stars Larry the Cable Guy (Cars), Tika Sumpter (Sonic the Hedgehog), Anna Maria Horsford (Friday), Lisa Whelchel (The Facts of Life), Chad Michael Murray (Freaky Friday) and Eric Lively (American Pie).

This actually is more entertaining than the reviews would imply, emphasis on entertaining over good. The storyline is fun to watch unfold and the cast is very good. Larry the Cable Guy versus Madea all movie was hilarious. The dialogue was very good and well written. The Mary J Blidge and Joe story about the birth of Jesus had me cracking up, the entire store sequence and firing was hilarious and the white ankles scene was comedic gold. I will say the constant reliance on lies part of the storyline was a bit over used, but the little boy plot was sad but good.

Overall, this is an entertaining watch and slightly better than the reviews would lead you to believe. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.