Meet the Browns

Pity my poor friend who spent all day telling me how hil-lar-ious Tyler Perry movies are, tsk-tsking all day that I had not ever seen one of his movies. Chuckling about how funny this was going to be and how i was going to run right out and rent all the others. Sadly, she spent the whole rest of the evening over coffee and cannoli reflecting on how great Tyler Perry's OTHER movies were. I forgive her - we're friends.

This movie was OK - it had its funny moments and good Lord don't we ALL have those family members? I don't care if you're black, Italian, Jewish or white-bread American - we've ALL got that same cast of characters sitting around our family table.

And OK, i understand that unless i saw the other movies i would not have a clue who Madea is or why she's being chased by the police. But that's OK - i can let an inside joke slide, especially considering the huge hoot and roar that accompanied her appearance.

Overall, i understand that this was not Tyler Perry's finest hour. But i sense that he has a LOT to say about families, standing proud, sticking with convictions when the rest of the world says "settle for less" and working hard to overcome circumstances. I will go out and rent his other movies, just to get a more fair picture of this filmmaker.

My theater that I work at got Meet the Browns, I have never ever seen a Tyler Perry movie, so this would be my first. But I didn't see it opening weekend and it took me a while to decide to see the movie, because of one thing, the rating on IMDb. Usually most of the ratings on the movies are pretty accurate. But when I finally decided to just go ahead and watch the movie, I have to say that I am very much disgusted with the rating here. I just don't understand why people are being so harsh with this movie, I felt like it was just a decent and uplifting film. I agree the stereotypes are bit much, but I've seen oh so much worse. Angela Bassett, who must of made a deal with the devil to look that good at 50, pulls in a great and heart felt performance as a mom who is just trying to do right by her kids despite the hard times she's facing.

Brenda is a single mom in Chicago who is just struggling like crazy to take care of her three kids, trying to do the right thing, she looses her job, her electricity has been shut off, she's being judged by everyone, and the dad of her son just refuses to pay any child support what so ever. But when she finds out that her dad(who she never met) died, she and the kids go down to Georgia for the funeral, and she finds out that he gave her a house, which her family and a handsome family friend pull together to put her dreams back into place and to give her star basketball son a great future.

Meet the Browns is just generally a good film, there are things that are a little off key, but it's all good. This film made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me remember how lucky I am to have family and friends who love me and how I love them as well. The ending is just such a relief and makes you think about the good things in life that make it worth living. I would recommend Meet the Browns, it's a fun film that I'm sure will make you feel good, please ignore the harsh rating, this is a totally misjudged film.

6/10

I was never "big" Tyler Perry fan, but at the same time, I've never been a "Tyler Perry Hater" either. I always give his films the benefit of the doubt, and I really enjoyed "Why Did I Get Married?" This movie though, "Meet The Browns," could have been an ABC Television Network After School Special. Everything about the storyline was cliché', formulaic, and predictable. The characters were CARICATURES of real people.

I laughed here and there in this movie, but overall, I was vastly disappointed in this effort. It's like Mr. Perry just "threw this movie together" without much thought.

After seeing last year's excellent Daddy's Little Girls and Why Did I Get Married I thought Tyler Perry had finally come into his own as a film maker. Granted Mr. Perry doesn't have the visual flair of Spike Lee,John Singleton or the underrated Ernest Dickerson but what he does have is heart. Sadly even an A-list actress couldn't save Meet The Browns from being a trite affair that may hugely disappoint Perry's fans. For starters Mr. Perry needs to fire the editor of this film. Maysie Hoy who edited Perry's two previous films comes of as a first timer here which is ironic because she's been doing movies since 1992 and has worked with talented directors such as Robert Altman (The Player)and Theodore Witcher (Love Jones). I counted at least three scenes which didn't transition well at all and did nothing to progress the story. As for the script it seems as Perry wrote this script on a whim; and the film was just made to cash in on his success because it lacks the heart of Daddy's Little Girls and Why Did I Get Married. As for the acting Margaret Avery who was excellent in The Color Purple & the recent Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins gives a paper thin performance as does Lamman Rucker who was excellent in Why Did I Get Married. As for Angela Bassest she's good as always and plays the mother role very well, I'm anxious to see what she bring Notorious next year. I would say two of the strongest performances in the film come from Lance Gross as Angela and much to my surprise Rick Fox as her would be suitor. The big question though is how well does David Mann's Leroy Brown translate to film ? In my opinion not as well as Madea and some of his jokes seemed forced and unneeded. As for the big screen return of Madea it's unwelcome at best and she hasn't been missed. Tyler Perry has the potential to be one of the strongest black filmmaker in Hollywood, he knows a good story, has a knack for finding talent hence Lammon Rucker and Lance Goss who will both go on to do great things. But with his latest Perry sticks to a formula that he successfully broke out with two back to back winning film released last year. Here's hoping his next film The Family That Preys gets him back on track.

Meet the Browns (2008) is a movie I recently rewatched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a single mother with three kids that recently lost her job. She gets an unexpected inheritance in the south and decides she may as well see what she received. Her and her children get to know an entire new side of their family and she may find love in the process.

This movie is directed by and stars Tyler Perry (I Can Do Bad All By Myself) and also stars Angela Bassett (Strange Days), David Mann (Madea Goes to Jail), Lance Gross (House of Payne), Rick Fox (He Got Game), Frankie Faison (Coming to America) and Margaret Avery (The Color Purple).

This is an underrated Tyler Perry movie that gets over criticized. The cast is outstanding and the chemistry is solid throughout. The characters are very fun and Mann delivers an entertaining performance. The dialogue is hilarious and there's some good zings. I really enjoyed the storyline being a healthy mix of romance and comedy. There's a dinner scene in here that's legendary. There's also uncertainty and doubt as the story unfolds and I enjoyed the unpredictable nature of the relationships.

Overall this is a worthwhile Tyler Perry picture that I would strongly recommend. I would score this a 6.5-7/10 and recommend seeing it once.