Madea - Reunião de Família

I expected a comedy like the "Big Mama" movies. Instead, the movie was a bizarre mix of comedy, drama and a love story.

This movie has three plots: The first involves Madea and her taking in a foster child. The second involves a woman who is engaged to a rich man who is abusing her. The third involves a relationship between a single mother with 2 children and a single father.

There is actually very little comedy in the movie. There are also a number of very twisted messages in the movie. For example, Madea beats the foster child with a belt (in a comedic manner), to convince the child to straighten out. The child does, in fact, turn herself around. Apparently, it pays to beat children.

There are plots dealing with child rape (with the consent of the mother). There are scenes with old men ogling young girls who are related to them. (The ogling takes place at a family reunion.) The movie jumps from plot to plot such that you are always off-balance. Is this a comedy, a love story, or a drama? It is, in fact, nothing ... except a waste of time and money.

Tyler Perry movies are always, what the kids call "Gay". It's not just the fact that he does most of his movies in drag, or that the movies spend a good 30-50 percent of the movie bashing men, it's that Tyler Perry's movies are always black Christian chick flicks.

The women are always these very thin, demure, beauties with long relaxed hair that are in unhappy marriages or relationships with these handsome, successful, super rich and super EVIL black men. They are always emotionally damaged damsels that don't want to get into another relationship.

There is always a very handsome, clean-cut Christian black man with dreamy eyes, who is always there for them (but not in a sexual way of course). The guy is always built like a brick outhouse, like he's got to spend more time working out in a gym than reading his bible. The woman eventually addresses her demons and surrenders her heart to the good Christian man.

Madea (when she's not wearing her ankle locator bracelet) is always there to talk about those good old fashioned values, when you can bitch slap a child who's misbehaving and how a woman needs to fight their oppressive male friends. Mr. Perry also plays her horn dog, pot smoking brother who Madea is living with. There is always some comical banter between those two.

I know that Tyler Perry is providing an alternative to the other blacksploitation films that are out on the market. The majority of African Americans are good, hard-working middle-class people and they've got to be tired of the images of "gangsta" urban blacks in the media. On the other hand, there are those "gangsta" elements in Tyler Perry's movies also, and the drama in dealing with those elements, so there's a little there too.

I'm not saying that Tyler Perry's movies are bad. They are very good, well done movies from their church plays. They are very viewable and enjoyable. It would be a much better TV series material, except that viewers would quickly become aware of how similar each story is to each other.

"Madea's Family Reunion" stands out, in that it features Cicely Tyson and the honorable poet, Dr. Maya Angelou. The preaching of where the family had come from slave beginnings and how the family needs to take care of each other was great. However, the woman beater, portrayed by Blair Underwood was written as such a psycho fiancé that it held such an unbelievably plot point to the drama. His character was just put in as an excuse to get back at him at the end. And, thus my main comment from above.

It's OK, Tyler Perry, but give us something new.

This is to me just an amazing, funny, delightful movie.

But first ... to be honest, I wasn't planning on seeing this movie at all. I had (woe be to me) never even heard of Tyler Perry. And the film's title alone sounded ... well ... unappealing at best. The synopsis I'd read suggested yet another movie with a man playing an overweight black woman. That might have been funny once or twice ... in Big Momma's House, and The Nutty Professor ... but surely can't keep carrying so much water as to make yet another movie about this same motif, right?

Well, be that as it may, I noticed that this film had hit the top of the box office when it opened a week ago. And then I read a review this morning by a typically politically correct reviewer who was "dissing" the movie. Now this is a reviewer I've come to rely upon as always panning movies I like and waxing enthusiastic about movies I dislike. So reading this reviewer's badmouthing prompted me to try out this movie ... and I am so glad I did.

I think I can see why high-minded PC reviewers wouldn't like it. It's a "popular" comedy, full of rough, earthy humor, celebrates Black cultural child-rearing values, and unapologetically celebrates God and family. No wonder it's been a hit with the general Black American culture, especially Black Churchgoing culture.

What is it that makes this movie so funny and so deeply heart-warming at the same time?

Well, in some ways, this is something of an old-fashioned morality play. Such has a wonderful tradition in Western Culture ... and in African culture. A resurrection of the Morality Play is fine by me: just a shocker, that's all. I kept thinking, "how are these characters getting away with saying things like that?" As when the leading lady says she's given her life to God and has been celibate and will stay celibate till she's married. How is it possible for something like that to show up in a general release movie in this day and age? Not as a statement to be mocked, but as an expression of genuine faith in God and Chastity? I just shook my head and smiled and enjoyed the sheer frank morality of the movie every time it surfaced ... which was pretty often indeed.

The music was resplendent throughout the movie, but the sound seemed a little problematic at times. The audio was almost echoing, flat, tinny ... sort of like a somewhat bad mono recorder.

The cinematography was fine, but in a way, very old-fashioned ... stylistically similar to the movies from the early days when films were often framed as theater transferred to the screen. Maybe that reflects Tyler Perry's background, I understand as a playwright. But for example, the camera follows the action in a very straightforward, even simple way: head on, straight up, no angle shots, no through shots, no complex dissolves or modern "realistic" camera "jiggling". Maybe this is intentional: the movie is telling a plain, straight story with feeling and humor and no hint of subtlety. If this is what's going on, it's fine by me: because this makes for a very candid, very honest, but never discomforting style. Perry's narrating a Story, Telling us What's Happening. Nuance is not what we're after here. Very basic human themes are painted with strong strokes. So we have a basic cinematography to fit this purpose. Fair enough.

There's an interesting interplay of serious and humorous material at two levels. First, there's some very tight sequencing in which strongly emotional material is followed by strong humor. Some will like this, some not, but it's very much at the core of Madea's character, and the overall character of the movie. Second, "serious" scenes are sometimes interspersed with humorous scenes inserted clearly for no other reason than plain comic relief. I think some might find that a little jarring. Still, it works for me very well. And this kind of thing goes back to Shakespeare at least, so I know it works for others as well.

The acting and characterizations were wonderful. Now again, don't look for subtlety, that's not the nature of the movie. But if it's good, solid performances matching characterizations to characters, this movie has it all. Tyler Perry as Madea and Joe was simply perfect. But the entire cast provided strong, reliable performances. Including a delightful cameo by Maya Angelou.

A few "plot holes" have been alleged. I see what's meant, but frankly, don't agree at all. This is a movie that for the most part is stylized, full of art and artifice, not a "realist" movie in which careful plotting is critical for believability. A movie like this is more like a painting, or a song ... a ballad. A popular folk ballad, full of humor and fun and tears and hugs ... and lightly textured but unapologetic moralizing. This movie is a classic combo of Entertainment and Edification. The final scenes at the farm, and at the wedding, really sum up the movie in both respects, and keeping a scorecard on consistency of details is very out of place, it's directly contradictory to the genre.

Last but not least, I have to say that the figure of Madea ... tying everything together with humor and wisdom ... is a sheer delight. I'm told she'll be back on the silver screen. Good ... I can't wait to make her acquaintance once again some day.

And needless to say I'm going to try to find and watch Diary of a Mad Black Woman as soon as I can find it ... !

The original show was so much better. They should have left on a good note. This movie killed the whole idea. It was boring, over-dramatic, and the funny parts were too far in between to make up the slack. This movie really seemed like it was trying way too hard to be serious, and that was definitely not what I was wanting from this sequel. Not to mention, that for a long time it was just depressing about the same thing over and over again. So, sorry, Tyler Perry, but try harder next time. This movie is just kinda dull, and not that funny either. Sorry. 4/10 stars is it.

Jay Addison

This movie made me laugh over and over again, I cried a little too and even experienced anxiety during the dramatic scenes, but most of all I loved the way Tyler continues to make his creations true to life. All of us have times of Joy, sadness and emotional upset in our lives. I will purchase every movie and play Tyler writes, produces, directs and stars in. We need more real life movies these days to bring us back to reality. The fact that Tyler chooses great actors to portray his characters and both young and old actors to share the fame and wealth is very touching to me. I hope Tyler continues to takes his plays and movies to the communities, so that we can laugh and share the joy with friends and family members.