Hellurrr...Hellurrr...is anyone home - Madeas Big Happy Family

2 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

See Trailer Here

Jumping The Shark.


This is a Hollywood term (not normally referred to movies), when a show has reached a point of demise; where storylines, characters, and overall premise have downgraded to a point of no return from its ultimate destiny of just being bad...and eventually being cancelled.


Movies have a chance to redeem themselves by: the actors choosing a better role; writers creating a better script; a series going in a new direction (James Bond, Star Trek...). But when it comes to a franchise such as Tyler Perry's movies, where each movie refers to his other movies, you can easily track it's growth film by film - as well as its decline.

True Grits!

Most critics will not review a Tyler Perry movie. I may have mentioned this before, but the reason is because his movies are not cinematic events, they don't attract Oscar buzz nor are the actors given the best material to expand on their craft - and the direction is never challenging or new (with the exception of For Colored Girls). Madea's Big Happy Family is bent on being a comedy; and while Tyler Perry's stage plays are quite funny (rent one if you can), they rely on many elements that are perfect for stage, but not for movies.


On stage, there is no need for multiple sets, camera tricks, or musical scores to build tension, or a deep knowledge of the characters background; because it is mostly composed of a situation/resolution dynamic. Going to a play, the audience is instantly connected to the performance, because the actors are right there - we become part of the scene. In a movie, the audience has to be drawn into the world, then drawn into the characters, then drawn into their situation so we can connect emotionally to what's on screen. The only thing that connected for me in Madea's Big Happy Family...was my eyelids.

Bow Wow Wow...Yipeepo Yippiya

The ultimate premise of this movie is that Shirley (Loretta Devine)- the mother in this family - is given the news that she has an aggressive cancer. She wants to tell her family but is having a hard time getting them all together, because their lives too are filled with drama. She decides to call upon Madea to handle the getting-together...in a way that only Madea can.


The movie isn't and doesn't take itself seriously, but in comedy, you have to have some form of true-drama so the comedy stands out more - otherwise you just have slapstick. Tyler Perry is better than that, but with so many characters from his television shows appearing here, and some actors who have not acted on the big screen before, this feels like a movie made for a You-Tube Webisode than one for major theaters. I have to admit, when Madea is on screen I actually laughed the most; what was once shocking has become the norm, and we connect more with her as a real persona. Her situations and her Madea-isms are brash and can only be taken as humorous, but it feels as if everyone else is trying to compete (as if they didn't read the title of the movie to know who is the real boss here).  It is also known that Tyler Perry wants to move away from the Madea franchise, as he should, for this type of movie-making (although profitable), will not allow him to grow in his talents as other movies  (For Colored Girls, A Family That Prays Together) have seemed to do.


What this turns out to be is a debut of pretty boys and girls who get a chance to earn a paycheck, get some exposure, and ad to their resume. I have to give some credit in the fact that Tyler Perry creates a black world, and keeps it black. The actors are suffering with this dialogue, but at least they are acting, and we are glad to see they are. I am surprised with how Loretta Devine seems to be dialing the acting down, as if she was doing her performance half sleep (maybe they woke her up at a screening of this very movie), or maybe she is tired of playing the sick role - but her performance on Gray's Anatomy shines a lot brighter than this one.


With the main storyline involving a person with onset cancer, we have our drama, but Madeas Big Happy Family challenges us with other African American issues that are also serious, and instead of making them more serious, it is sugar coated with more comedy: Baby's Mamma Issues, Unemployment, Drug Dealing, Women to Men Spousal Abuse, Infertility, Child Discipline...all are topics in this movie, but the way Blacks struggle with them is never really addressed, and we end up laughing at them, or ignoring them. And with the lead character - where is the talk about Chemo, or the deep concern about finishing up personal goals, or even an emotional breakdown. If anyone in the audience had heard the same news as Shirley, we would not make a potluck our main focus (in the Black community, this news travels through the grapevine usually); so the audience is instantly disconnected.


And what happens when Shirley finally gets her family together, is upsetting in its delivery, because it never really delivers...but then maybe it was never meant to be. With so many characters, and so many made-up situations, and so many Madea-isms spilling all over the place, it would appear that this movie was more of a finale to the Madea franchise, and instead of a funeral, we are having a farewell party (with Lionsgates money no less)...and that the shark...or shall I say catfish...is more than ready to be jumped.