Madea's Family Reunion (2006) Reviews

• The one isn't standing in for a zero--it's standing in for a negative ten!!

  alanrayford2008-08-04

  I'm a Black man living in a predominantly Black city. That being said, I have some major misgivings about Tyler Perry's work. I realize that some people out there feel the need to praise him, because he's Black and trying to portray a positive image about the culture. But, I honestly do believe that, were Perry White, this film would have had the NAACP, Al Sharpton, and Jessie Jackson all over his ass. I have been forced to watch this movie one whole hell of a lot recently and each repeated viewing makes my blood boil. The characters are poorly written and acted. The jokes are so bad, I have to actually be told something is supposed to be funny. I'm just going to break this big pile of sh-t down. Madea=suck. The character may have had some appeal, but it doesn't anymore. When the only thing she ever seems to do is smack around children and threaten adults with violence she is less than useless. She is unnecessary. The situation with the wife beating fiancé was horsesh-t. If a woman was so scared to death of her husband, why would she try to run away when he's sleeping in bed. Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to leave when he was at work. At any rate, the characters in this arc were so annoying and overbearing that I hoped he would throw her off the balcony and was royally ticked when he didn't. Then there are the two lovebirds. A bus driver asks a woman out by harassing her while he's making his rounds. I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe when she agreed to go out with him even more. But, what takes the cake is that a grown man was reduced to tossing pebbles at a window and passing notes like a ten year old by a castrating mega bitch. I don't use this term lightly, but that woman only had two modes. Morose victim and psycho momma. No matter which of these two faces she showed, however, there was one constant. The bus driver wasn't going to get any. He even married her without sampling the goods--WTF! Then there's the family reunion scene. Here we've got the mother load which includes implied incestual taboos, grinding for the sake of grinding, shirtless, overly musclebound, b-ball, plus the great taste of Maya Angelou. When those babes dragged their butts outside and called a meeting, was I wrong to wish that the oldest of them was claimed by a heart attack. All this crap is going on at the reunion, in laughably easy to separate groups, and then they ring a bell. When they do, everyone drops what they're doing and heads on over for a stern talking too, just like a pack of Pavlov's doggies--WTF!! Then you have the final five minutes of the film. In it we see the abusive fiancé get manhandled by his longtime victim and all around bad actress. There is an impromptu wedding where Black people are dressed like angels and are hanging from the ceiling--WTF!!! The only reason to watch it this far, besides testing your threshold for pain, is the hope that the second villain of this story gets her ass handed to her as well. Guess what, it doesn't happen. Instead, Perry takes the testicularly challenged way out and plays it safe, ending the movie on a tone of forgiveness--WTF!! I'm pretty sure that, if given a day , I could probably write a doctoral dissertation on all the ways this movie sucks. Don't even get me started on the rest of Tyler Perry's films. I'm just going to say this. In my opinion, as a Black guy, D.W. Griffith's legacy lives on. The irony is that it is doing so through a Black man who will be praised for doing what Birth of a Nation did, selling us down the river. I only wish Perry's films were dudes so I could kick them in the nuts. Thanks a lot, dude!! What are you going to follow this up with in 2009, a comedy about the raping and savage beating of slaves in Colonial America?

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• Inspiration to keep on keeping on.

  OldSchool22006-09-21

  I rented the DVD and watched this movie three times before returning it. I bought the DVD to watch parts of it often enough to keep me keeping on just like Medea does. The show inspired me. I laughed tears. Funny thing was my daughter called and told me to watch it because it reminded her of me, her grandmother, and great-grandmother. It made me so brave that when my 29 year old son (semi-brain damaged drug addict) came through the house popping his mouth off at me I went into "Medea Mode". I jumped back with, "This is my house and I will whoop your butt no matter how old or big you are! I rattled on with I'll catch you asleep and beat the s--- right out of you. And on Medea Mode I rode! Sons and grandkids broke out laughing and going crazy cause NAN was back. Get on out of here boy, I don't want to see your ugly face for awhile." It sure felt good. Medea is my hero. No Tyler Perry is. Thank you. You are writing my life. Whew! Do I have stuff you should hear!

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• Madea's Family Reunion More than Drag!

  threedropsofcaramel2006-02-28

  I noticed on the message boards a lot of criticism about men in drag being done before and that is true, but none of those have been done like this. Madea's Family Reunion is about family, love, hurt, painful secrets and laughter. It features the infamous, gun-toting tell-it-like-it-is Madea, but this movie introduces a lot of well-rounded characters that are played by some incredible actors. We meet Vanessa the older of the two nieces in the movie. She has two out-of-wedlock children and has moved in with Madea. We also meet her sister Lisa, the younger and meek one who is engaged to a wealthy and violent investment banker named Carlos. To round out this group is Victoria, Lisa and Vanessa's mother, a strong-willed, domineering mother who has a favoritism for Lisa and a troubled past with Vanessa. Although the movie is titled Madea's Family Reunion, the viewer gets caught up in this dual story of the sisters. One finding what love is, and one finding out what love isn't. The movie boasts powerful issues that are acted out to perfection. Tackling such controversial issues is rarely seen in films today where the movie industry has caught remake and horror fever. What is most compelling is the way Perry tells this story of love and pain, it is without color. Anyone, no matter what race or status can relate to this movie. I also liked how the movie tackled foster parenting. Madea takes in Nikki, a rough quick little girl who has been passed around in the foster care system. With a little patience, a lot of love and encouragement, we see her metamorphosis into a sweet young lady. The film also features strong matriarchs, garnering appearances from both Cicely Tyson and Maya Angelou. The family reunion scene in the movie is exhilarating and honest. It also gives a very moving speech by Cicely Tyson that defies time. This is a must-see. A movie that tackles the good and the bad. There is good acting, great story lines, great character development, great music and it will leave you feeling stronger, encouraged and educated on the lessons that life deals us. Don't assume this movie is like the play or is simply about a man in drag. Trust me, it is not. Go and see it, you will be pleasantly surprised and definitely entertained.

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• And What a Family Reunion!

  cdelacroix12006-03-04

  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 ... !

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• Excellent Family Movie

  mariea322006-07-01

  I think it was an excellent movie. It's one of those movies that you have every emotion with. You laugh, you cry, your shocked and angry. I would definitely watch it more than once! Good family movie also. It teaches kids about respect, family about caring, and shows kids right from wrong. It also teaches you about black history and where they came from. There are amazing actors and actresses in the movie!!! To see Maya Angelou and Cicely Tyson was awesome. Tyler Perry is amazing as Aunt Madea and once again keeps you laughing! The music selection was great and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. I think it was one of those movies that teach you that anything is possible and that you can be whoever you want to be no matter who tells you different. Seeing a child from the foster care system be turned around from a rough child into a beautiful, caring, loving child shows you as Aunt Madea said all a child needs is love, caring and compassion and to be taught to believe in yourself. The world today is quickly falling apart. Family values are being forgotten and everyone seems to be going their separate ways. The movie teaches you that family is everything; never forget where you come from.

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