Tyler Perry has chosen to take a different direction and finally make a movie which could garner him some serious praise as a writer/director.
Unfortunately, this movie is lacking in its execution.
The movie is confusing and had a typical disappointing ending. Tyler Perry waited too long to tell this story. It is nothing new. It is the same slave/segregation/racism story that many people have seen before.
He could have made a different story. Something with an alternative happy ending.
The best things about this movie:
1. The hair and costumes look nice
2. The main actor Joshua Boone who played Bayou, does a good job in this role. I enjoyed watching him
3. Some of the music is really nice
4. The set design is quite authentic. The cinematography is nice too. Tyler Perry shows he has the skills to be a good director.
The worst things about this movie:
1. The script is weak and confusing
2. Bayou and Willie Earl's father, Buster was a confusing character. Why was he so mean to Bayou? Was Bayou another man's son. He says something about him being black but Buster and Bayou are the same complexion. It was left unexplained. Again, why did Willie hate Bayou? It is never explained.
3. The actors playing Bayou and Wille did look a little too old to be playing teenagers
4. Leanne and her mother did not look like pure white women, they looked mixed. I don't know how they fooled this family into thinking they were white women.
5. I did not buy into Bayou and Leanne's love for each other. The movie should have spent a little more time showing Bayou and Leanne falling in love. I saw very little chemistry and so it made little sense for Bayou to risk everything later on for this woman.
6. Why did they cast an older white woman who clearly looked nothing like Leanne at the end? Why did the baby look so white? A mixed race woman with naturally curly hair and a black man would have a child that looks mixed, maybe very light but not white. It was just bad casting.
7. The movie felt rushed and drained of any real emotional payoff. It feels like the audience does not get a chance to react to a shocking moment before another shocking moment is presented.
8. Bayou never comes off as a charismatic singer and performer, so why was he this immediate star at the club where he was singing?
9. Why did Tyler Perry give away what could have been a shocking conclusion at the start of the movie? He told the audience that someone was murdered in the first few minutes. I worked out it was going to be Bayou a few minutes later.
10. What was the point of Bayou witnessing Leanne being abused by her grandfather? It was added to make the story seem more traumatic, but Bayou nor Leanne ever mention it. The audience never sees the effect it has on Leanne. I thought it would affect her relationships later on.
11. Why couldn't Tyler stay away from the typical storyline of racists in the deep south bullying, terrorising and killing black men? Why not write something original?
How about the black man managed to move away and build some kind of decent life for himself. Even if he never got to see Leanne again or spent years apart from her. It would have been nice to see Bayou live. Maybe he could have met his son years later. The son could have still grown up thinking he was a white boy.
It seems like Tyler Perry is moving in the right direction but this was not the deep emotional movie that I hoped it would be. It's too similar to other made for tv movies, tv shows and movies such as the 'Roots' sequel. It was quite predictable.
Unfortunately, this movie is lacking in its execution.
The movie is confusing and had a typical disappointing ending. Tyler Perry waited too long to tell this story. It is nothing new. It is the same slave/segregation/racism story that many people have seen before.
He could have made a different story. Something with an alternative happy ending.
The best things about this movie:
1. The hair and costumes look nice
2. The main actor Joshua Boone who played Bayou, does a good job in this role. I enjoyed watching him
3. Some of the music is really nice
4. The set design is quite authentic. The cinematography is nice too. Tyler Perry shows he has the skills to be a good director.
The worst things about this movie:
1. The script is weak and confusing
2. Bayou and Willie Earl's father, Buster was a confusing character. Why was he so mean to Bayou? Was Bayou another man's son. He says something about him being black but Buster and Bayou are the same complexion. It was left unexplained. Again, why did Willie hate Bayou? It is never explained.
3. The actors playing Bayou and Wille did look a little too old to be playing teenagers
4. Leanne and her mother did not look like pure white women, they looked mixed. I don't know how they fooled this family into thinking they were white women.
5. I did not buy into Bayou and Leanne's love for each other. The movie should have spent a little more time showing Bayou and Leanne falling in love. I saw very little chemistry and so it made little sense for Bayou to risk everything later on for this woman.
6. Why did they cast an older white woman who clearly looked nothing like Leanne at the end? Why did the baby look so white? A mixed race woman with naturally curly hair and a black man would have a child that looks mixed, maybe very light but not white. It was just bad casting.
7. The movie felt rushed and drained of any real emotional payoff. It feels like the audience does not get a chance to react to a shocking moment before another shocking moment is presented.
8. Bayou never comes off as a charismatic singer and performer, so why was he this immediate star at the club where he was singing?
9. Why did Tyler Perry give away what could have been a shocking conclusion at the start of the movie? He told the audience that someone was murdered in the first few minutes. I worked out it was going to be Bayou a few minutes later.
10. What was the point of Bayou witnessing Leanne being abused by her grandfather? It was added to make the story seem more traumatic, but Bayou nor Leanne ever mention it. The audience never sees the effect it has on Leanne. I thought it would affect her relationships later on.
11. Why couldn't Tyler stay away from the typical storyline of racists in the deep south bullying, terrorising and killing black men? Why not write something original?
How about the black man managed to move away and build some kind of decent life for himself. Even if he never got to see Leanne again or spent years apart from her. It would have been nice to see Bayou live. Maybe he could have met his son years later. The son could have still grown up thinking he was a white boy.
It seems like Tyler Perry is moving in the right direction but this was not the deep emotional movie that I hoped it would be. It's too similar to other made for tv movies, tv shows and movies such as the 'Roots' sequel. It was quite predictable.