User Reviews

This - according to the blurb, is a film about women coming together, formed by a bond of all being single mums. Unfortunately, it being a male writer and director, strong independent women aren't allowed to stay single for long, it seems, and all they really need to be happy and content is for a man to come into their lives EVERY SINGLE ONE of the five lead characters found the happiness they were missing in their lives when a new man comes along - i.e. being a single mom was an unempowering situation, and now they have a testosterone-fuelled bloke to look after them, everything is rosy. Really?!! Is this really what men think about female solidarity? That they're only doing it in lieu of having a man in their life? Really? I hoped we'd moved on from that a long time ago.

I give this movie a 6 because while the material definitely has great potential, this fell flat by relying on stereotypes.

Jan is a rich woman who has time for only her job, detached, blunt as a spoon Rich Corporate Climber

Lytia The poor black version of Jan Sassy Black Woman

Hillary the softer side of Jan, stay at home Mom who married into money and now that she has little of it she now has an existential crisis. Former Rich Girl

May Similar to Hillary except that she's probably more successful of the Moms because she has a career she actually likes as a writer. Her husband isn't in the picture because of a drug addiction. Professional Black Woman

Esperanza is like Hillary except for having a boyfriend she doesn't want to have around her daughter because her ex will cut off his voluntary support Latina bombshell

So when I first looked at this I thought it would be really good because when folks pool their resources they become stronger. It was a bit of a letdown because this is something I've seen before, just multiplied with a more diverse cast. I like how they actually let the bigger stereotypes go with Lytia, she could've been drawn a lot worse. Of course they meet men throughout the film that they eventually end up with because it guarantees a happy ending. I think it would've been good to see some of the women remain single because it doesn't always end up that way

So a 6/10 because while it does do stereotypes and some of the humor is corny, this is by no means the worst I've seen.

Over the weekend I decided to finally watch Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club. In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't have high expectations. Very seldom do I see single motherhood being portrayed with any degree of honest accuracy. The usual standard is to depict single motherhood as a caricature at the extreme end of the spectrum. The spectrum, according to media, is at one end, a single, black mother on welfare, who is struggling to overcome all manner of obstacles just to survive. On the other end of the spectrum you'll find a rich, white woman, who has a high paying executive job, a nanny of Hispanic ethnicity, and, bless her sweet heart, she has everything but the respect of her bratty, entitled kids. Not surprisingly, Tyler Perry's depiction of single motherhood fed into both of those stereotypical depictions with relish.

The movie revolves around the lives of 5 single mothers. Incidentally, I give it a thumbs up on being very diplomatic in regards to diversity. Two black women, two white women and one Hispanic woman- I guess Asian women didn't make the cut. All of these women follow a very predictable and stereotypical path.

There's the obligatory, fat, sassy black character named Lytia. Lytia is working the hard shift at the Waffle House, while trying to keep her youngest son out of jail and on the right path. Her problems are solved when she meets a rich, tall, handsome man.

The other black woman, named May, is a middle-class writer, who is supposedly "struggling" to raise her son and publish her book. Conveniently, her problems are solved when she meets Jan. She also finds herself a tall, handsome, hardworking man.

Jan, is one of the two wealthy and affluent white characters. She is a publishing executive that puts her work ahead of her daughter. Her problems are solved when she puts all of her wealth into starting her own publishing company. It's easy when you're rich. She too, finds herself a man.

Then, there is Hilliary. Poor Hilliary is divorcing her high-powered attorney husband, and is supposedly struggling because her spousal support has been lowered, Now that she can no longer afford her live-in maid. Hilliary's big, single-mom-dilemma, is that she has to stay at home- not that she had a job outside the home, in the first place- and take care of her own children. (Gasp! The HORRORS!) She, of course, finds her obligatory tall, handsome and helpful man, located just next door. How convenient.

Last, but not least is Esperanza. Esperanza is silently suffering because her daughter's father has afforded her a certain lifestyle, so long as she's willing to follow his rules. It's a problem that's easily solved for Esperanza, because, as it turns out, they have laws enforcing child support for a reason. She too, has a tall, handsome, new man all lined up, to help her transition out of being a single mom.

The common theme among all of the characters was that each of them found a hard working and good looking man to save the day. Turns out, that no matter what your socioeconomic background, no matter the color of your skin, if you can just find a good man, then this whole single mom problem can go away, and everything can go back to normal.

With almost 50% of all babies being born into single parent homes, Tyler Perry had an opportunity to write a movie that really spoke to the experience of a group of women who are quickly becoming the norm in America. That sort of approach might have lent some validity and depth to what instead turned out to be a superficial ploy to gain the viewer-ship of single mothers.

So, there you go, ladies. Tyler Perry just solved the plight of single mommies everywhere. All you need to do, is go find yourself a man. But not just any man. Oh, no. You need a nice, hard-working and extremely good looking man. Now why didn't we all think of that?

This movie was awful. They all talk about the single moms club but they repeatedly complain about the men paying their alimony, child support and talk about getting new men and fixing each other up. A TRUE single mother is one that has no father - no alimony, no child support and the father is gone. As in passed away, in jail or otherwise absent. Not a man who wants to co-parent and contributes financially. These women needed a MAN to help them build their sets for the kids play. This is horrible. It is an insult to REAL single mothers (widows) who have no option to fight and fuss with an ex. How about they do a story about the war widows who are REAL single mothers. Pathetic movie. The only reason I rated a "1" is because there was no option for anything less.

Life can be tough, especially for a single mom. In fact, what happens when you get five of them together forming a support group to get through life's everyday ups and downs? Why, you get the generically titled The Single Moms Club of course and it's the latest of many Tyler Perry films that have inhabited local multiplexes in the last few years.

Filmed almost entirely in Atlanta, Georgia and showcasing scenes of females conversing that are the equivalent to a taping of The View (if that's your thing), The Single Moms Club is proof that maybe Hollywood might have ran out of ideas for cinematic fluff in general. Now from the opening frame, we are immediately introduced to May (Nia Long), Hillary (Amy Smart), Lytia (Cocoa Brown), Esperanza (Zulay Henao), and Jan Malkovich (Wendi McLendon-Covey). These are all women who are either currently separated, divorced, or have baby daddies who were never around (except for Esperanza's who's played by Eddie Cibrian and he's the ultimate Nazi ex-husband). Added to that, their kids don't like them very much and blame them for not fully being present in their daily lives. Somehow by sure kismet (otherwise there wouldn't be a valid running time), all of said kids go to the same school, get in trouble at the same time, and all face harsh penalties as students. When the principal of their private school calls all the moms in for a meeting, these five completely different women are forced to organize a fund raiser or else their offspring will be expelled (what a weird form of punishment). What ensues is a bond of sisterhood that ultimately betters all of their future existences and as the plot requires, helps them find new relationships in the form of significant others.

The acting, well it's fair as long as everyone doesn't say whatever pops in their heads. I mean, you could tell during some scenes that the actors/actresses paused as if they didn't remember their lines and had to gulp, improvise. I could hear crickets in background. You know not literally, but in my head (I hate when that happens).

Overall, once I finished taking in a midday viewing, I realized that The Single Moms Club came off as a very uneven viewing experience. The film drips with sentimental goo and shifts its tone from funny, to uncomfortable, to flat out depressing ever so quickly. There are some heartfelt moments between members of the cast (especially amongst the mothers, the sons, and the daughters) that are effectively powerful. But with an underdeveloped conclusion, some embarrassingly bad line riffing from the actors as mentioned earlier (especially during the outtakes at the end), and a demeaning label that seems saddled to their roles, it was difficult to call this thing inspiring.

In hindsight though, I didn't find The Single Moms Club to be a bad film. I just found it to be almost mean-spirited, too coincidental, and vaguely aloof. Let me put it this way, it's a "club" worth checking out only if you avoid going to all the meetings.

You know when the funniest thing in your movie is Terry Crews, you have a problem. I have not seen a film considered a comedy drama make me groan so much at the comedy and laugh so much at the drama. Its a spectacular achievement for Tyler Perry and it makes me wonder if his other movies have also 'achieved' this.

The story is a mess, it has no idea what its doing. One minute they focus on the Moms having to do a fund-raising thing (I think, I wasn't very interested)and then they just drop that all together and decide its going to be a fun comedy about 'The Single Moms Club', but then it drops that and decides to be a serious Drama with all the clichés that goes into those. Its insane how much this film jumps around and by the end you have no idea what you watched.

The comedy is non existent. The jokes aren't quick, witty and to the point, they are long, drawn out shtick about sex. Its just awful, they dedicate about two minutes to a joke between one of the couples (I don't care who they are) and its basically two minutes of innuendo about him being able to 'pound' and he has loads of 'wood' ...hahahaha get it, because he's a contractor or something and it can also relate to sex, ha-ha its hilarious, no its not, its lazy humor and I wanted to stick pins in my ears because the sound of blood gushing would be funnier than this trash.

The characters are the definition of one dimensional, I don't think I learned one thing about them besides their character traits and even then I have a hard time remembering them because they were so boring. The male leads are either made out to be evil, sweat or just try hards, they get about as much development as the womens handbags, one of the men isn't even developed with a trait, he's a name, he's in the movie then he's out and never mentioned again. Don't even get me started on the kids.

The drama is just as horrible as the comedy. Its just a different cliché for each woman to go through, all are estranged from their kids, one cannot raise her own child because she's an idiot , ones an uptight businessman who doesn't have time for her kid, one is trying to keep her son from going to jail and blah blah blah, boring boring boring. It's just going through the motions of a drama without any build up or emotional connection, when you add the shaky plot and horrendous comedy, the drama becomes even more diluted in the mess.

None of it makes any sense either. I never feel like one scene goes into the next, everything feels like A to B to C and it never feels like human beings are talking and any of what's going on is real, it feels fake. Relationships are started within seconds, ideas are started and then stopped and things seemed to be mentioned and then never mentioned again, as if everything that happens in a scene is confined to that one scene and nowhere else in the film.

Overall, If you want a film that shows strong, funny women who have chemistry in a film with a coherent plot, watch Bridesmaids, don't give this film the time of day it doesn't deserve.