If you ask why I rated this film higher than 1 it is because of the performances of some really good actors, working steadily to push that boulder uphill against a horrible script. And I rated it higher than a 1 because the soundtrack is fierce, really great music. I might buy the soundtrack without the film.
Having said that, in spite of the fact that I love Taraji's work, she is just an amazing actor, fearless and chameleon like, I waited until the movie came out on cable before seeing it. I just could not, would not, pay my hard earned money to see a film that I knew the plot, the characters, the nuances, subtext and context, and the ending before I ever walked into the theater.
I give Mr Perry his due, he's found an audience hungry for his work who obviously feel he speaks to them. God Bless them and love them. But his films are not art, not good films, and his plays not even good theater. Clearly the people who love his stuff are there for a different reason. If money is your barometer, then Mr Perry has succeeded beyond his, or anyone's wildest dreams.
For the rest of us though his work presents a problem. Of all TP's films, this one is absolutely the worst. There are two movies here, as is the case in too many of his films. There's the Madear track and the melodrama, slapstick and tears, and never the twain shall meet. Just when you find something to laugh at with Madear and Joe, (can someone please do something about his makeup), with little to no transition boom, you're in to the melodrama. Halfway through the movie Madear and Joe go the way of the , having done their job such as it was, they exit stage left. Huh? I used to wish that TP would allow others to write, direct, produce, thinking maybe that would help. He has great impulses but he cannot for the life of him tell a story. Without a good solid script there is no movie. A great director or producer can't fix it. As TP owns the complete means of production on his films, he can't be fired. Good for him but not so good for us. And when you continue to tell the same story over, and over, and over again, how creative you are the telling of the story gets stale, old, tired, unexciting. Yet I am sure that he will continue to churn out these badly told morality plays, and folks will continue to give him their money. I don't understand it but, there it is.
Having not grown up with a silver spoon, or barely a spoon at all at times, the circumstances of his characters aren't foreign territory to me. But I came up with a generation that believed that excellence mattered, that you do something and do it well. So it irks me to no end when I see people are willing to accept mediocrity, heck not even mediocre, just bad. Just dang.
Having said that, in spite of the fact that I love Taraji's work, she is just an amazing actor, fearless and chameleon like, I waited until the movie came out on cable before seeing it. I just could not, would not, pay my hard earned money to see a film that I knew the plot, the characters, the nuances, subtext and context, and the ending before I ever walked into the theater.
I give Mr Perry his due, he's found an audience hungry for his work who obviously feel he speaks to them. God Bless them and love them. But his films are not art, not good films, and his plays not even good theater. Clearly the people who love his stuff are there for a different reason. If money is your barometer, then Mr Perry has succeeded beyond his, or anyone's wildest dreams.
For the rest of us though his work presents a problem. Of all TP's films, this one is absolutely the worst. There are two movies here, as is the case in too many of his films. There's the Madear track and the melodrama, slapstick and tears, and never the twain shall meet. Just when you find something to laugh at with Madear and Joe, (can someone please do something about his makeup), with little to no transition boom, you're in to the melodrama. Halfway through the movie Madear and Joe go the way of the , having done their job such as it was, they exit stage left. Huh? I used to wish that TP would allow others to write, direct, produce, thinking maybe that would help. He has great impulses but he cannot for the life of him tell a story. Without a good solid script there is no movie. A great director or producer can't fix it. As TP owns the complete means of production on his films, he can't be fired. Good for him but not so good for us. And when you continue to tell the same story over, and over, and over again, how creative you are the telling of the story gets stale, old, tired, unexciting. Yet I am sure that he will continue to churn out these badly told morality plays, and folks will continue to give him their money. I don't understand it but, there it is.
Having not grown up with a silver spoon, or barely a spoon at all at times, the circumstances of his characters aren't foreign territory to me. But I came up with a generation that believed that excellence mattered, that you do something and do it well. So it irks me to no end when I see people are willing to accept mediocrity, heck not even mediocre, just bad. Just dang.