I wanted to like this movie. I really, really did. Tyler Perry is a comic original and his character of Madea is a hilarious creation (even to this white boy) - but Lordy this movie is a confusing mess. It starts out with a serious "soap opera" style that we hope will give way to a nicely contrasting comic spree of good natured revenge, self-discovery and adventure. Wrong. After a brief flirtation with that notion, we are flung immediately back into the soap opera world with liberal doses of religious fervor and a secret knowledge that 'God can do miracles'. When the film eventually returns to it's comic roots in order to give the likable heroine her moment of triumph, I said to myself 'now this is what we've been waiting for! You go, girl!' But once again, the movie retreats, tempering our spirit with a dose of the holy spirit. After a lengthy montage sequence that is as phony as most of the rest of this movie, the film culminates in what can only be described as a gospel movie musical sequence - stolen right out of THE COLOR PURPLE. But we're not done yet - after a 'happily ever after' family dinner (starting with a close-up of a plate of fried chicken yet) our heroine marches off to find her real happy ending in a steel yard. Perry's Madea (and his Joe) seem lost in a film that isn't really where they want to live. They would be much more at home in a scenario like GREATER TUNA or MRS. DOUBTFIRE, where comedy is the main course. Or, maybe better yet, keep them on the stage, where Perry seems to thrive.
Review of Diary of a Mad Black Woman
