"MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION" (2006) (Tyler Perry, Rochelle Aytes) (PG-13)
If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button.
Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film.
QUICK TAKE:
Dramedy: Two sisters try to decide upon their romantic futures all while getting advice from their outspoken aunt.
PLOT:
Half-sisters Lisa (ROCHELLE AYTES) and Vanessa (LISA ARRINDELL ANDERSON) are at different stages in their romantic lives. Much to the delight of their domineering mother, Victoria (LYNN WHITFIELD), Lisa is engaged to investment banker Carlos (BLAIR UNDERWOOD) and seemingly lives the good life. Yet, hidden behind the faux veneer of happiness is the dirty little secret that Carlos has her under his thumb and routinely beats her for any number of trivial matters.
Vanessa, on the other hand, doesn't get along with her mother and has pretty much sworn off men, instead focusing her energies on her two kids and God. Thus, when she meets bus driver and single father Frankie (BORIS KODJOE), she isn't sure how to react, although she senses he's a good guy and the two start dating.
Of course, they can always seek advice from their highly opinionated, outspoken and politically incorrect aunt Madea (TYLER PERRY) who lives with her "dirty old man" brother Joe (TYLER PERRY), is proud of family lawyer Brian (TYLER PERRY), and has recently been assigned as the foster mom to teenage delinquent Nikki (KEKE PALMER).
As her nieces try to decide their romantic futures, Madea prepares for the big family reunion where matriarchs May (MAYA ANGELOU) and Myrtle (CICELY TYSON) have a thing or two to say about the state of affairs in the family and world.
OUR TAKE: 2 out of 10
This sequel to 2005's surprise, low-budget hit, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," pretty much follows the structure of its predecessor. Namely that's mixing soap opera-ish melodrama regarding abusive black men with slapstick, in your face comedy featuring writer/director Tyler Perry donning the "Big Momma" type grandma suit and dispensing advice and social justice like a large and angry black woman. Since I tried to purge the abysmal first film from my memory, artistic comparisons are somewhat of a moot point, but this one may be a tad (and I mean just that meager amount) more tolerable than the first time around. Even so, it's still poorly made, with uneven pacing, jarring contrasts in the material and mediocre acting at best. The full review will be posted soon (Lions Gate Films did not screen this film in advance for critics before it opened, so we're still working on the final review).
Reviewed February 24, 2006 / Posted February 24, 2006
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
