The Family That Preys

The hard worker and religious Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard) raised her two daughters managing a simple bar of her own. Her snobbish and arrogant daughter Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) is graduated in Economic Science and works in a construction corporation while her sister Pam (Taraji Henson) stayed with Alice working in the bar. Andrea is married with the construction worker Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), who works in the same corporation of his wife and dreams on initiating his own business. However she is betraying him with their boss William Cartwright (Cole Hauser). William is the son of Alice's best friend, the wealthy Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates). While Alice travels with Charlotte in a road trip without destiny, the ambition and infidelity of William trigger a series of events that will affect relationships in both families.

"The Family That Preys" is a reasonable soap-opera and my first impression is that it is underrated in IMDb. However, the plot point in the meeting of the board of Charlotte's company is so absurd and incoherent that spoils the story and might be the reason for such bad rating. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

This is a great movie about business with morals and wit. Superb performance by all actors and actresses. Worth watching more than once

I had the opportunity to see The Family that Preys this weekend, this is my second Tyler Perry movie, to be honest from what I've seen, I think I may check out his other movies, because I do like what I've seen so far. The Family that Preys is seriously one of the better films I've seen so far in September, it's an honest drama that keeps your attention, it was also very touching. In some ways this was the female version of The Bucket List, even as it was hard to watch, it was still an incredibly moving movie. The chemistry between Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard was just dead on and you really believed in their friendship. I also loved the side story between the two sisters and their husbands, one sister who is rich and spoiled with a good husband who is in major denial about what his wife really is, the other sister who wishes for her husband to keep his head up and live his dream. Tyler Perry pulls in a good family story that will have you smiling at the end.

Alice and Charlotte are best friends, Charlotte is a rich business woman who's son wants to take over her company, she's rooting for a different C.O.O. that she hand picks, Abby, who is a strong woman who is working her way to the top. Alice is a struggling woman who Charlotte asks if they can go on a road trip together, she agrees, they go across country enjoying the last bits of life. But what they don't realize is that at home Alice's daughter, Andrea, is sleeping her way to the top behind her loving husband's back, her other daughter is begging for her husband to live his dreams, and Charlotte's son is just a sleaze who will step on anyone to get to the top.

The Family that Preys is seriously a very good movie, it will not disappoint you. I'm really disappointed in a lot of these ratings. I believe there are some users lately who don't even see the movie, they just rate it a low number just because they don't like who's the star or whoever is making the film, please, you have to trust me on this film, it's a little treasure and a very strong film that will remind you to not take life for granted, stay strong, and remain proud of who you are. The script had extremely well written lines and I loved the representation of the hardship of being a woman trying to compete in a man's working world, not to sound horrible, but I imagine that's even harder for an African American woman and this movie just inspires you that it is possible to stay strong and work hard, keep the faith, and good things will come to you. This is a fantastic movie, I highly recommend it.

8/10

Another film filled with secrets and surprises. Good set-up of plot and characters, if a bit predictable. Writer, director, producer, actor Tyler Perry (best known for his "Big Momma" franchise) goes for a bittersweet comedy-drama that delivers well. We were quite satisfied with the story and filming. A lot of restraint (no one swears in the film, for example) and non-preachy religious themes. We sat through the credits. Great song sung by Gladys Knight. Woodard's arc is grand. Definitely recommended. Perry is evolving well in his milieu as his empire grows. A fun update of Southern Gothic genre and good performances all round, save for Taraji P. Henson, who is all tics and gestures. Surprised at the IMDb fan-base low rating ( <3/10 ). Perry is a natural to bring our "Hayes Hotel" musical to the big screen or Atlanta and Broadway! - Frederic Kahler

OK, I've read all the other reviews, to date, and I have to agree with those who had a positive experience. I'm a 62 year old gay white male, and I gave this movie an 8/10. I am not an unreserved fan of Tyler Perry, and think some of the Madea sub-plots are pretty ugly. That said, I have watched nearly everything he's done, enjoyed most, and feel that this one is the best I've seen. The plot(s) were not difficult to follow, or swallow, and the entire cast was perfect, not a bad actor among them. As expected, Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates were truly excellent in their roles. These gals have been doing this, and doing it well, for a long time, and are perfect together. If they aren't long time friends off-camera, they surely fooled me.