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"TYLER PERRY'S THE FAMILY THAT PREYS"
(2008) (Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates) (PG-13)

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QUICK TAKE:
Drama: Two long-time friends set off on a cross-country trip while their adult children's behavior adversely affects members in both families.
PLOT:
Alice Pratt (ALFRE WOODARD) and Charlotte Cartwright (KATHY BATES) have been friends for 30 years, but live completely different lifestyles. Alice runs a small diner with the help of her adult daughter, Pam (TARAJI P. HENSON), serving the likes of homeless man Nick (SEBASTIAN SIEGEL), while Charlotte runs her late husband's multimillion dollar construction company where their adult son, William (COLE HAUSER), is one of the executives.

He's married to Jillian (KaDEE STRICKLAND), but is secretly having an affair with Andrea (SANNA LATHAN), his snooty subordinate who's married to Chris (ROCKMOND DUNBAR), a worker at one of William's construction sites. His best friend and fellow coworker is Ben (TYLER PERRY) who's married to Pam and is satisfied with his comfortable, but far from rich lifestyle. Chris repeatedly tries to convince him that they should ask William to invest in their business idea for their own construction firm, but the executive has bigger fish to fry in the form of Abby Dexter (ROBIN GIVENS).

She's just been hired by Charlotte as her company's new COO, a development that doesn't sit well with William. Nevertheless, Charlotte finally convinces Alice to join her on a cross-country road trip to see the sights and live a bit. As they make their way on that journey, the actions of their adult children come to a head and affect all of the family members.

OUR TAKE: 4.5 out of 10
Our new reviewing policy for films that aren't shown in advance to critics is that we'll only provide a paragraph or two about the film's artistic merits or, more accurately, lack thereof. After all, life is too short to spend any more effort than that on a movie that even the releasing studio knows isn't any good (which is why they hid it from reviewers before its release).

As the world turns, these are the days of our lives. Yes, moms will say all my children might be the young and the restless, but c'mon, they have just one life to live. But considering the infighting and affairs, will the mothers prove to be a guiding light to them, or will some of them end up in some general hospital?

If you picked up on the soapy gist of that intro, you'll realize that can only mean that writer/director/producer/star Tyler Perry has delivered yet another religion-tinged, big screen soap opera. While it has its moments scattered amidst all of the melodrama, contrivances, and ultra-predictable plot developments, it's best suited for the sort of viewers who like to talk back to the screen and tell the characters what they should be doing.

Unfortunately, it doesn't go far enough over the top to make this a guilty pleasure for everyone else. "Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys" rates as a 4.5 out of 10.




Reviewed September 12, 2008 / Posted September 12, 2008


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