theskulI42
Yes, Tyler Perry's latest maudlin soap opera/outrageous comedy/Christian preachfest has all the wifebeating, handsome menial workers, inopportune times to walk in the door and fat black sass we've come to expect from a Tyler Perry film, and this time, he's behind the camera, resulting in a visual look that is, surprisingly, better than the last one, at least in spurts. The opening sequence is Barbara Walters/ Casablanca" soft-lensed, and deceptively so. Also, her bedroom scenes are bathed in a suffocatingly everpresent blue glow, successfully transferring visually the vibe of the situation. I don't really need to recount the plot strands here. If you've seen and enjoy Tyler Perry's films, you go in knowing exactly what is going to be here. And if you haven't seen or don't enjoy his films, why the hell would you be watching them? It involves a woman being forced by her overbearing mother into an abusive marriage, her damaged-goods sister finding romance with a friendly bus driver, and everpresent Plot Interjection 'big momma' Madea, once again getting arrested, forced to take care of a runaway orphan that also always seems to get in trouble and is a bit of a wayward youth. Preposterously, the segment that works best for the film...is Medea herself. Perry has toned her (and her angry old man of a brother) down quite a bit, scaling her back to the point that she actually comes off as something resembling reality, playing tough-love-sass court-ordered mother, and where in the last film, Medea brandished a pistol and cut a couch in half with a chainsaw in the first 10 minutes of appearing on screen, here serves as advice dispenser and child bearer, even as the film leads to the almost fascinatingly inappropriate finales that seem to color both works I've seen from him. In fact, this expression of Tyler Perry through his films is more the mark of an auteur than a lot of directors saddled with that tag ever will be. The term auteur is not necessarily a judgment of quality, and Tyler Perry's films are all most wholly Tyler Perry's films, and it's fascinatingly rare to see a film attempt to present every side of the human experience and its fractured, human creator, as Perry's not a philosopher, and doesn't claim to be. He is an ordinary man who is trying to satisfy all the bases of what he wants to do. He does what he can to be a good Christian, to follow the tenets and followings, but he is not a perfect man, and he cannot help himself from his natural human nature. Sometimes, he just cannot help ogling an attractive young woman, or indulging in exuberant revenge fantasies. But like all men, he is not all bad, and not all good, with the truth falling somewhere in between, wholly reflected in his output, resulting in among, regardless of quality, the most honest productions to hit the screen in some time. The acting has markedly raised the game from the previous film. Where in Diary, Kimberly Elise was flooring the pedal and putting everything into it, almost every single other actor in the film let her down. The supporting cast here, including absolute professionals like Blair Underwood, Lynn Whitfield, Boris Kodjoe and one of the few bright spots in the first film, Cicely Tyson, shine well beyond their means in limited roles. Tyler Perry also has improved markedly. In the interim between the first film and this, he seems to have learned not only how to write for his creations, but ACT them, as he was stiff and awkward in the first film, but gets into the grooves and crevasses of the character here. This is obvious not a perfect film. It's not great art, the characters, even as the actors may stretch them well, still serve as ciphers and Types to allow for no confusion in his message, despite the fact that for me, confusion serves as the only message to be derived. The comedy may be less over-the-top, but to make up for it, he's ramped up the melodrama, as not only is one bedroom scene so over-the-top that it threatens to collapse upon itself, but Blair Underwood seems to be almost foaming at the mouth on occasion, and it is a testament to him as an actor that he somehow manages to reign this character in and keep him from plummeting over that edge. Also, the film's denouement is abrupt and a lot of plot strands are just sort of glossed over or immediately solved for easier access. Does Tyler Perry contradict himself? Very well then, he contradicts himself. He is large, he contains multitudes. He is not just one thing, and he is not perfect, and each play, and each film he puts out is just as revealing and yet maddeningly enigmatic as I'm Not There is for Bob Dylan, and this most certainly does not guarantee quality, as each story has to rest of its own laurels. But, where "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" failed because its plot and characters failed to outgrow their sitcom/soap opera limitations, "Madea's Family Reunion" is no better on paper than its predecessor, but its cast and crew has improved, and are striving well-behind their means, giving 110%, and somehow, it works, and I, for one, must grace this film with a big, hearty "AMEN!". Add this one to the underrated file. {Grade: 7.75/10 (B/B-) / #30 (of 70) of 2006}
