User Reviews

I have seen all of Tyler Perry's plays and movies. To me the stories he tells are relatable to any person. I think that his plays are better than his movies. Even though this movie was funny, the plot was all over the place. The rest of the review contains spoilers.

The central character of this film is Shirley. She wants to get her family together and tell them that she is dying. When she does get them together the family members themselves has troubles. That is a quick summary of the movie and here are some key points that I thought should be addressed.

Spoilers!!!!!!!! I warned you!!

Cons; Byron finds out that his sister was his mother all along and is never brought up again. Funny but useless ending. Weird editing. The preaching at the end by Madea was too fast and could have been done through the characters. Not much acting just "character acting." There would be a serious scene then after a funny scene (vice versa).

Pros: Very Funny!! Madea, Bam, and Mr. Brown always keep you laughing.

I really do love Tyler's work but I think his should work translating his plays to screen better.

I'm not one of those people who hates any Tyler Perry production by default. In fact, I usually enjoy his work. But this movie is the bottom of the barrel. The movie can be described simply as a clichéd, preachy mess smothered in misogynistic undertones.

The movie opens with Shirley and Aunt Bam in the hospital. We're supposed to be getting a quick laugh at Aunt Bam's forwardness towards the doctor. She's pretty much grinding on him like they're on a dance floor and I suppose the audience was supposed to find it funny but it only caused for a few awkward laughs of the "is this supposed to be funny...?" variety. Shirley finds out that her cancer has returned and she starts preaching about how God is so amazing. Riiiight... because when cancer survivors find out that their cancer has returned, they thank God for it. Eye rolls are surely to ensue and that opening scene sets the tone for the entire movie.

Shirley wants to get all her children together for a family dinner so she can break the news to them but contrary to the misleading title, they're no Brady Bunch. The two sisters, Kimberly and Tammy, can't even sit in the same room together without insulting each other. Both sisters are convinced that the other sister is a despicable human being, unbeknownst to themselves that they're both unbearable. And the younger brother, Byron, doesn't even interact with the sisters at all. Not being he can't stand them, just because they never gave enough damns to have him share a single word with either sisters. Instead, he's caught up in his baby mama drama.

Byron's storyline is the most ridiculous if only for how unbelievable his girlfriend, Renee, and ex-girlfriend, Sabrina are. Renee doesn't even pretend to give a damn about his well being, his son, or his family. She's pressuring him to sell drugs like it's rehab for a alcoholic. At one point when he loses his integrity and gives into the temptation of quick money, she tells him "I'm proud of you". And somehow, he still manages to stay with her through most of the movie. All the while, his baby mama, Sabrina, finds every way to ruin his life but apparently, it's because she still wants him.

The side plot with Tammy is insulting, to say the least. She's a terrible mother and a disrespectful wife. She finds every opportunity to belittle her husband in front of her children and neither parents makes an attempt to discipline the kids when they call their dad a "punk ass" on separate occasions. Oh, but you want to know how they resolve their problem? Harold, the husband, stands up for himself. And by "stand up for himself", I mean doing exactly to his wife what she does to him by demanding her to shut up and sit down. What is the moral of the story? There's no equality in a relationship: You're either the sandwich-eater or the sandwich-maker. But at least when it's the man in the relationship, it's okay.

Kimberly's side plot is... I don't even know. It's the same thing as Tammy's, except that her husband, Calvin, sometimes TRIES to defend himself. And she's more open about her desire of having nothing to do with her dysfunctional, emotionally abusive family. Somewhere near the ending of the 2nd act, Tammy exposes Kimberly at a family dinner about how she had a baby at 13 and left Shirley to raise him. Lo and behold, it's Byron. And that still wasn't enough to get him to share a single line with his "sisters". Also, we find out that the pregnancy was a result of rape and that's why she's such a terrible person. And voilà! We're left to assume that everyone knowing that she was raped was going to make her a better person.

There's isn't very many funny parts in the movie aside from Sabrina's "Byreeeeeen!" gag. Madea isn't even enough to save this movie from the contradictory life lessons and the overexposed themes of baby mama drama, God-fearing mothers with their preachy speeches, and rape. It's the same thing in every movie and it's passed tired.

In the 1940s, Bing Crosby starred as an Irish priest making good in America in the Oscar-winning film, GOING MY WAY. After being forced to come here from their "emerald isle" by the Potato Famine, this movie showed how this ethnic group had risen in a few short generations to positions of influence, such as priests, piano players, and singers.

In the 1970s, Marlon Brando starred in a trilogy of Oscar-winning films as a community organizer bringing prosperity to his friends and relatives, earning him the title of THE GODFATHER. After pasta shortages forced them to come here from their beloved "Boot" peninsula, these movies showed Italian Americans rising to positions of prominence in the gaming, insurance, and gentleman's entertainment industries.

Today, Tyler Perry has crafted a series of movies centered around his transvestite portrayal of the morbidly obese Madea, with BIG HAPPY FAMILY being the latest example. After being forced to come here through inter-tribal warfare, these flicks show how it has taken only a few generations for descendants of slaves to rise to such positions as mechanics, realtors, drug dispensers, and fast food purveyors. Unless racism rears its ugly head, it seems a foregone conclusion that Perry's dispatch to his respective old country will earn him Oscar kudos on a par with those won by Leo McCarey and Francis Ford Coppola for their parallel report cards home. (And, while I personally may not have rated HAPPY FAMILY 10 out of 10, I did rate it MORE THAN DOUBLE the average rating of 1,151 IMDb votes on it through today. So there!)

Hold onto your hats because you are going for a ride in this movie. I loved the play and thought that the movie was also excellent.

I've read some nasty, bad, hateful, and very negative reviews about Mr. Perry's movie here and, I must admit, am very confused. The very low rating is ridiculous!

Let me break it down this way: If you Love loud foul music, people that wear their pants down to their thighs with their underwear showing, kids that disrespect their elders, trashy loud gum chewing women, lazy adults that would rather get a government check than actually work for a living, irresponsible folk that think more of themselves than anyone else, people that flaunt more tattoos jewelry and glitter than a New Orleans Mardi Gras float, and people that are full of hate and anger and like to take it out on others (bullies),than you will absolutely Hate this movie.

If, on the other hand, you believe in God, Manners, Love, Kindness, Respect, Politeness, Compassion, and other traits that aren't discussed 'out loud' any longer in this politically correct world that we've somehow fallen into; you should get drawn into this movie.

Mr. Perry somehow manages, with very well written dialog, to have you literally Laughing Out Loud one moment and then crying inwardly and sometimes outwardly the next.

When Madea (Perry) goes off on a verbal tirade of opinion on others in the movie you find yourself saying: "YES! That is what has gone wrong in the world". Of course that is between the laughing, crying, and constant thought stimulation that this movie provides.

Now obviously most normal people (because of the very low ratings on this site) hated this movie. The only thing that I can say to that is: "Thank God I'm not of that group".

Don't get me wrong, I love a good special effects, don't have to think, stunt ladled movie as much as the next guy. But I also love a movie or novel that is so well written that it has the magic that pulls on your thoughts and heart strings. This movie is one of them.

Over the years, Tyler Perry has written, directed, produced and starred in movies that have been instant success financial wise. At least Lionsgate studios agrees on that analogy. When a new Tyler Perry film would materialize, you could see dollar signs with the people who work there. With his films ranging around the $520 million mark, they just let him churn in another movie and seem happy with it without caring if it's a triumph or a failure. He's bringing money into the studio and they're all right with that.

However, a lot of his success comes from the dependency of the majority of his audience being predominantly African-American because they believe he's the voice for them and they gravitate to his movies as something they can admire and be influenced by. And even though his audience is mostly African-American, he still gets a lot of criticism from them, even fellow African-American director Spike Lee who spoke negatively about Perry's movies and how they badly depict African-American in some of the worst sterotypes possible. To paraphrase, Lee believes that Perry seems to take pleasure in conveying these negative cliches just to get a cheap laugh from his audience. The problem is he's not funny and the format of his movies are just saturated with cringe. Showing that Perry won't sit down on Lee's criticism, he took the time to fire back at Lee by saying that black people know what to expect when they come to see my movies and that he's sick of people like Lee dictate about what movies black people want to see.

Whether seeing his movies in a positive or negative light, no one has stopped Perry from making his movies or prevented his fanbase from not seeing his movies. A lot of Perry's fanbase don't really come to see a movie with a predominately black cast, they really come to watch a comedy filled with over-the-top gags, silly one-liners and most of the arrival of everyone favourite trash-talking, tough love inducing, no-nonsense geriatric, Madea. They just want to see what crazy antics Madea has in this movie in hope to get a little laugh, forget the bad you had for an hour or two and just turn off your mind for a little enjoyment.

Make no mistake about it, Madea comes from a very wide extended family. She's got relatives left, right and centre it's hard to keep count if they are legitimate family members or if she's just so well loved she's relatable to everyone she knows. It's no like Perry is committed to details regarding continuity, but I recommend you just not let that bother you too much and enjoy the movie.

In "Madea's Big Happy Family", Madea's favourite niece Shirley (Loretta Divine) wants to gather her dysfunctional family for a get together to unravel some very sad news. The problem is her family is kind of the sad bunch themselves. The announcement was that Shirley is dying of cancer and that she doesn't have very much long to live. But her family are so absobed in their own personal conflicts, she can't comes to reason with them. That's where Madea steps in as she's the only one who can dish out the tough love and the hopes she can get them to smooth out all their problems.

Shirley's family has a plethora of problems ranging from a myriad of issues like rape from the past, rasing an illigitimate child, martial problems, a fight for child custody and a relative who was an inmate on drug charges is back to selling drugs. This is vintage Perry storytelling. No one ever seems to learn their lessons and move forwards in the Tyler Perry universe. They're in their own bubble and never could quite come around to it.

As a movie lover, I do like Tyler Perry, but I'm not one of his biggest fans. I'm not particularly a fan of his movies. They seem to come across as formulaic and has a pattern that repeats itself. They seem to go back from square one as none of the characters from his movies or his plays never seem to evolve. The characters he creates all feel superficial and can never be deemed relatable. Perry's artistic integrity is very lacklustre and has this don't fix it if it's not broken frame of mind. However, I just wish he tried something new and fresh instead of repeating the same plots over and over again.

I guess I just tune into Tyler Perry's movies just see his most famous character Madea. She's over-the-top, rambunctious, and loud and doesn't care who's foot she steps on. If she wants something, she'll get it. Sure she's a walking, talking cliche with nothing believable about her character. I can't stop giggling when she berates her family members to set their selfish way straight, or when she belittles bystanders who dare to cross her path. As an actor, Perry is very good and when he does Madea, he's not doing it just as an excuse for dressing in drag. He's not doing to stand out from his abilities to play multiple roles in one movie. He's making Madea in way that is so unbelievable, while at the same time fans wish they had a Madea in their lives.

And every time we think it's time to let the character go, he brings her back and she gets funnier each movie. If only she could have adventures on her own instead of being dragged across by extended family members. Also I really wish Mr. Perry would explore more of the dramatic issues that surface seem logical and not exploitive then I can gravitate to his movies a lot more. I wish he would feature more complex characters instead of one-dimensional wooden actors. Or even have the rather unhappy endings conclude with some ambiguity even if not all the issues have been sorted out in the end then I can admire Tyler Perry's work even more.

I'm giving this movie 5 stars because I only like half of the movie and that is the case with most madea movies for me. I like the madea parts but Tyler perry always seems to mesh a drama with a comedy and I just want to watch madea. It's hard to go from madea driving through a McDonald's to a girl being an a** hole to her dying mother. It makes me want to have a seizure. I will watch it again but I'll fast forward to the madea parts and forget the drama.

i love 'Madeas big happy family!!!!' i saw it yesterday and literally could not breathe! i couldn't catch my breath! '1-800 CHOKE THAT HO' but another funny thing is when the credits were over, music started playing in the theater, and 'a loaded smile' came on! i was even wearing my Adam Lambert shirt!!!! about the movie, i saw a story on a family who has their problems, but they don't realize what a true family is, until its too late. its a sad story, but over all, my spirit was up lifted by Madea. there were comments in the audience that made me laugh. when Madea yelled at the little boy, some one in the back of the theater yelled'YEAH!!!' and the audience laughed a lot. then, after the funeral, when Calvin said,'can i hold you?' some one said 'you can hold me!' i loved that!.