A Madea Christmas

Tyler Perry is back as Madea and although yes we've seen him many times as her, he knows when to bring her in and off the screen. A Madea Christmas may not be like the huge blockbuster status that other movies might be right now such as The Hobbit and such but, what the film does have is heart. We get to know each character and their different backgrounds. The movie is a little slow in the beginning but, picks up quick. It's a complete turn around from Madea's Witness Protection which didn't do so well in my opinion as far as the script. But, A Madea Christmas makes up for it and keeps the laughs coming. Tyler Perry is known for his great plays as Madea and you know that if Madea shows up in a movie she'll bring her famous obnoxiousness and through it leave you pondering with a message and a smile on your face. This may not be everyone's cup of tea but, if you love Madea then you're in for a treat. You may not see cars exploding or any fights but, you will see a message that will remind you what Christmas is all about.

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.

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.

I've seen some Medea movies but this was the first time I've watched one in a movie theatre. I watched it with my movie theatre-working friend but since he was on call for a possible shift today, we saw it at a cinema for a competitor which meant we both paid admission. Anyway, there was plenty of laughter from the audience including my friend but I, myself, only chuckled during Medea's attempts at his department store job but by the time the scene changed to Alabama and the arrival of Larry the Cable Guy, I laughed plenty especially whenever he had dialogue with the Tyler Perry woman character! There's the putting-in-lessons about racism, a corporation's attempt to put "Christ" out of Christmas, and bullying to stew the pot to contrived effect though because it's meant to go down easy for about 90 minutes, one probably won't get too offended. Anyway, Tyler Perry's A Medea Christmas is indeed pretty entertaining especially if you watched TV during the '80s and liked recognizing Lisa "Blair Warner" Whelchel from "The Facts of Life" or Anna Maria "Thelma Frye" Horsford from "Amen" while viewing this...

It's probably one of the funniest Madea movies, but there are literally scenes completely out of order and one scene even REPEATS. Don't know who edited but man did they drop the ball on it.