Madea's Big Happy Family

I have to make a confession. I watch Tyler Perry's Madea films. OK, JUST HEAR ME OUT! Now, I think they're all FAR from perfect films, but at the very least, I do enjoy watching the portions featuring Madea. Such was the case of my latest viewing, Madea's Big Happy Family. It's a bit embarrassing to say, but let's just get down to my review. First of all, we have a tangled web of subplots. The mother of a family, Shirley, is devastated to discover that her case of cancer has worsened, prompting her to plan a family dinner to tell her children about her condition. This includes her daughters, Kimberly and Tammy. Kimberly is a secretive woman (Improperly focused character #1), and Tammy is having trouble with her marriage, and her two disobedient children. This also includes Byron, a man on an unlucky streak, having served jail time for selling drugs, and behind on paying child support to his insufferably obnoxious ex-girlfriend. There's also some drama between Cora and Mr. Brown. But leave it to Madea to set things straight, and not be afraid to beat the living hell out of anyone who steps out of line. This movie is textbook Tyler Perry. As always, he gathers together a cast that could have been quite good, with good material, but their characters are inconsistently written, and their focus tends to blur because the script is overly cluttered with subplots. It's not a problem because they're hard to follow (They really aren't), but it's because it doesn't give these characters all the attention they deserve. This isn't even mentioning Tyler Perry's ubiquitous switch in tone. His rhythm moves as comedic scene, dramatic scene, comedic scene, etc. I think the comedy portions are better than the dramatic portions, but the flip flopping between the two makes things feel dull. At the end of the day, I didn't emotionally connect with the story like I feel I should have. For once, I wish Perry would construct a film that's sure of what it wants to be. I give it ** out of ****

Hold onto your hats because you are going for a ride in this movie. I loved the play and thought that the movie was also excellent. I've read some nasty, bad, hateful, and very negative reviews about Mr. Perry's movie here and, I must admit, am very confused. The very low rating is ridiculous! Let me break it down this way: If you Love loud foul music, people that wear their pants down to their thighs with their underwear showing, kids that disrespect their elders, trashy loud gum chewing women, lazy adults that would rather get a government check than actually work for a living, irresponsible folk that think more of themselves than anyone else, people that flaunt more tattoos jewelry and glitter than a New Orleans Mardi Gras float, and people that are full of hate and anger and like to take it out on others (bullies),than you will absolutely Hate this movie. If, on the other hand, you believe in God, Manners, Love, Kindness, Respect, Politeness, Compassion, and other traits that aren't discussed 'out loud' any longer in this politically correct world that we've somehow fallen into; you should get drawn into this movie. Mr. Perry somehow manages, with very well written dialog, to have you literally Laughing Out Loud one moment and then crying inwardly and sometimes outwardly the next. When Madea (Perry) goes off on a verbal tirade of opinion on others in the movie you find yourself saying: "YES! That is what has gone wrong in the world". Of course that is between the laughing, crying, and constant thought stimulation that this movie provides. Now obviously most normal people (because of the very low ratings on this site) hated this movie. The only thing that I can say to that is: "Thank God I'm not of that group". Don't get me wrong, I love a good special effects, don't have to think, stunt ladled movie as much as the next guy. But I also love a movie or novel that is so well written that it has the magic that pulls on your thoughts and heart strings. This movie is one of them.