Tyler Perry definitely speaks to a certain segment of the populace. He talks the language of parents frustrated, elders unheard, husbands and wives unhappy, and the saved struggling to keep the faith in an often godless world. Ever since he came on the scene, his combination of low comedy and high (melo)drama has favor within the always under-served African American populace. While never striving to stretch into the mainstream, he's always recognized a need to entertain as well as enlighten. Now, after 12 stage plays and 10 films, he's finally found the proper balance between manipulation and madcap humor. Madea's Big Happy Family is his first wholly realized dramedy, and like his last effort, For Colored Girls, speaks to a filmmaker finally growing comfortable within his creative skin.
Shirley (Loretta Devine) is dying of cancer. Her last wish is to have her entire family come together so she can break the bad news. Sadly, her children are cruel and self-absorbed. Daughter Tammy (Natalie Desselle-Reid) is an angry, aggressive shrew who treats her well meaning husband of 17 years (Rodney Perry) with loveless contempt, while successful sibling Kimberley (Shannon Kane) undermines her long suffering spouse (Isaiah Mustafa) with bitter dismissal. Only youngest son Byron (Shad "Bow Wow" Moss) seems settled, even with all the baby mama drama in his life and a previous stint in jail for dealing drugs. With only a short time left, Shirley wants to settle things. Her kids could care less. It's up to aunts Bam (Cassi Davis) and Madea (Perry) to make things right, including revealing some of the secrets that has kept this clan apart for so long.
Madea's Big Happy Family is the best film of Tyler Perry's career. It trumps the musical theatricality of I Can Do Bad By Myself and lays waste to past installments featuring the grandmotherly battleaxe with a big mouth and a penchant for blunts and handguns. Unlike previous efforts, which seemed to fold, spindle, mutilate, and recombine his past stage work into viable cinema, Perry maintains a consistent storyline throughout. No rummaging around for various subplots - if you liked the play version, you'll love this. In fact, the plot is only slightly expanded to allow Mr. Brown and his daughter Cora (David Mann and wife Tamara) their own DNA drama. While the communal preaching is kept to a minimum, Perry definitely expands the Christian message, making Shirley's struggle as much about Jesus as her jaded family.
This is one of the few titles in his creative canon where the women are portrayed as heartless and hopeless. The typical Tyler Perry piece offers devoted females facing worthless, paternalistic "dogs." Here, Kimberley and Tammy come across as angry, ugly people, and it takes everything this movie has to make us forgive their venomous ways. Of course, most of their activity is meant as a catalyst to Madea's open handed "commentary," but it's rare to see such strident ladies as part of his production. Similarly, the notion of old school philosophy vs. new jack disrespect also plays an important part. Perry clearly believes in strict discipline and corporal punishment and is not afraid to make it a main philosophical selling point.
But it's the clever combination of humor and heart that wins us over. During a powerful deathbed scene, Devine reminds us of why family and its internal forces are so strong. Of course, a couple of sequences later, Madea has to read everyone the riot act one more time - and it's priceless. As he continues to grow as a filmmaker, Tyler Perry still relies on the salvation as slapstick formula that got him where he is today. It makes sense, since said strategy delivers something as successful as Madea's Big Happy Family.
Shirley (Loretta Devine) is dying of cancer. Her last wish is to have her entire family come together so she can break the bad news. Sadly, her children are cruel and self-absorbed. Daughter Tammy (Natalie Desselle-Reid) is an angry, aggressive shrew who treats her well meaning husband of 17 years (Rodney Perry) with loveless contempt, while successful sibling Kimberley (Shannon Kane) undermines her long suffering spouse (Isaiah Mustafa) with bitter dismissal. Only youngest son Byron (Shad "Bow Wow" Moss) seems settled, even with all the baby mama drama in his life and a previous stint in jail for dealing drugs. With only a short time left, Shirley wants to settle things. Her kids could care less. It's up to aunts Bam (Cassi Davis) and Madea (Perry) to make things right, including revealing some of the secrets that has kept this clan apart for so long.
Madea's Big Happy Family is the best film of Tyler Perry's career. It trumps the musical theatricality of I Can Do Bad By Myself and lays waste to past installments featuring the grandmotherly battleaxe with a big mouth and a penchant for blunts and handguns. Unlike previous efforts, which seemed to fold, spindle, mutilate, and recombine his past stage work into viable cinema, Perry maintains a consistent storyline throughout. No rummaging around for various subplots - if you liked the play version, you'll love this. In fact, the plot is only slightly expanded to allow Mr. Brown and his daughter Cora (David Mann and wife Tamara) their own DNA drama. While the communal preaching is kept to a minimum, Perry definitely expands the Christian message, making Shirley's struggle as much about Jesus as her jaded family.
This is one of the few titles in his creative canon where the women are portrayed as heartless and hopeless. The typical Tyler Perry piece offers devoted females facing worthless, paternalistic "dogs." Here, Kimberley and Tammy come across as angry, ugly people, and it takes everything this movie has to make us forgive their venomous ways. Of course, most of their activity is meant as a catalyst to Madea's open handed "commentary," but it's rare to see such strident ladies as part of his production. Similarly, the notion of old school philosophy vs. new jack disrespect also plays an important part. Perry clearly believes in strict discipline and corporal punishment and is not afraid to make it a main philosophical selling point.
But it's the clever combination of humor and heart that wins us over. During a powerful deathbed scene, Devine reminds us of why family and its internal forces are so strong. Of course, a couple of sequences later, Madea has to read everyone the riot act one more time - and it's priceless. As he continues to grow as a filmmaker, Tyler Perry still relies on the salvation as slapstick formula that got him where he is today. It makes sense, since said strategy delivers something as successful as Madea's Big Happy Family.
