Watch Madea's Family Reunion For Free

Powerful

Fantastic!

best movie i've ever seen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Now, if you see the case for this, it reads comedy 100%, it sounds like it's going to be a whacky fun romp. It is not. This movie is a drama, first and foremost. It does not advertise itself as such, if it had, I probably would never have watched it. But it's not even a good drama. And for a movie titled "Madea's Family reunion", it really doesn't show much of that reunion. It takes up about five minutes of the whole two hour movie. The comedy is not funny. It is forced. Some of it is juvenile. There are distasteful fart jokes in the middle of this dramatic web of family troubles.This movie contains abuse by a man, condoned by the mother of the victim, but then plays beating a child for laughs. This movie contains a woman in fear of a relationship with a man because of a very traumatic past experience her mother put her through, her horrible mother who does not seem to get any punishment in the end. There are many unnecessary characters and subplots, and Madea, the title character, is hardly even in the movie. Then it just decends into some kind of cliched romance. People sing at one point for some reason? It gets a bit muddy. I would not reccommend it.

I initially saw this film in my 20's, and I remember liking the slapstick scenes with Madea and absorbing the "abusive female" storyline with interest. However, now, ten years later, I realize that there are many episodes of inconsistency in the plot direction, and most of the characters are pretty static. That being said, the film is still wholly entertaining, though I understand the main criticism that it "doesn't know what it wants to be". Is it a drama? Drama-comedy? Indie? Or is it simply existing on it's own, as a Christian-themed, laughable variation of an African-American "Peyton Place"? I guess it's up to the viewer to decide. But let's take a look at some of the characters...First there's Madea...the matriarch and pistol-packing grandma, spewing laughable one-liners, slaps, kicks, and endless words of wisdom. Truth be told, despite her comedy, I'm not sure how essential Madea really is to the multitude of story lines in this film, other than to appear in random intervals, inserting comical dialogue here and there in an effort to prevent the film from crashing in on it's own seriousness.Then there's Madea's brother Joe, who serves no utter purpose here except as a horny, ornery comical sidekick who simply presents himself as someone who works on Madea's nerves. The "sleazy old man" thing was funny at times, but in other instances, Joe's routine got old (no pun intended).Next you have Lisa...a whimpering, spoiled protagonist destined to marry the rich man next door. There was nothing about the character that was appealing...nor did Rochelle Aytes' acting skills impress me. Other than her perpetual watery eyes and shaky gasps for air whenever her abusive fiancé rough-handled her, they didn't do enough for this character to help win over my sympathy. In fact, her posture as a victim became downright irritating. Then there's Vanessa, the older, stronger and emotionally-damaged sister, who comes across initially as a hard bitch...but we, as viewers, are inevitably forced to forgive her as her unfortunate past is reveal through the plot line. Though I initially disliked Vanessa (I perpetually get tired of our black women routinely being portrayed as "hard" or having an attitude, simply because of life's struggles), she was the only person who seemed multi-faceted, as if the writers seemed more vested in making her story a priority in the many subplots that take place here.Victoria, portrayed by the lovely Lynn Whitfield, was a ridiculous cliché in every sense of the word. I didn't find her cruelty and conspicuous favoritism among her daughters credible (at one point, she even openly admits to "loving one daughter more than the other") and it seemed as if she was written verbatim with Disney's wicked Stepmother in mind. In a deleted scene that I was privy to, Victoria even confides in her spouse-slapping son-in-law to possibly beat on her daughter "just a little bit" in order to keep her in line, but not necessarily turn her off. Yeah, right. As for Moms of the Year, this one takes the pits. I can see why this over-the-top scene was subsequently removed.Finally, there's Frankie, Vanessa's picture-perfect boyfriend. It's hard not to denounce him as a cliché, either. I mean, the man has it all: Looks, body, nice apartment, nice car (in one split second scene, we also see he drives a BMW), Christianity, and he's the existential father. Oh yes, and early on, he reminds us that he's not interested in sex at all...just the ability to help "restore". I find it wonderful that Tyler Perry has made an effort to portray some of our black men in an extraordinarily positive light...but in my book, Frankie was just too perfect. I mean, not only can he shoot hoops, but the man never curses, looks good in blue jeans, buys ice cream for children, and is ready to provide hugs on-demand. Really? Yet, Vanessa wouldn't give this man the time of day except for cold eyes and angry sighs? For the sake of the plot, I get it. But there comes a time when writers appear downright foolish.Either way, despite it's flaws, the film is entertaining enough to enjoy. As for ratings, I'd say it ranks Number 2 in the "I'll-go-ahead-and-watch- this-since-nothing-else-is-on-and-I'm-too-lazy-to-get-up-and-change- the- channel" awards.

I'm a Black man living in a predominantly Black city. That being said, I have some major misgivings about Tyler Perry's work. I realize that some people out there feel the need to praise him, because he's Black and trying to portray a positive image about the culture. But, I honestly do believe that, were Perry White, this film would have had the NAACP, Al Sharpton, and Jessie Jackson all over his ass.I have been forced to watch this movie one whole hell of a lot recently and each repeated viewing makes my blood boil. The characters are poorly written and acted. The jokes are so bad, I have to actually be told something is supposed to be funny. I'm just going to break this big pile of sh-t down.Madea=suck. The character may have had some appeal, but it doesn't anymore. When the only thing she ever seems to do is smack around children and threaten adults with violence she is less than useless. She is unnecessary.The situation with the wife beating fiancé was horsesh-t. If a woman was so scared to death of her husband, why would she try to run away when he's sleeping in bed. Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to leave when he was at work. At any rate, the characters in this arc were so annoying and overbearing that I hoped he would throw her off the balcony and was royally ticked when he didn't.Then there are the two lovebirds. A bus driver asks a woman out by harassing her while he's making his rounds. I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe when she agreed to go out with him even more. But, what takes the cake is that a grown man was reduced to tossing pebbles at a window and passing notes like a ten year old by a castrating mega bitch. I don't use this term lightly, but that woman only had two modes. Morose victim and psycho momma. No matter which of these two faces she showed, however, there was one constant. The bus driver wasn't going to get any. He even married her without sampling the goods--WTF! Then there's the family reunion scene. Here we've got the mother load which includes implied incestual taboos, grinding for the sake of grinding, shirtless, overly musclebound, b-ball, plus the great taste of Maya Angelou. When those babes dragged their butts outside and called a meeting, was I wrong to wish that the oldest of them was claimed by a heart attack. All this crap is going on at the reunion, in laughably easy to separate groups, and then they ring a bell. When they do, everyone drops what they're doing and heads on over for a stern talking too, just like a pack of Pavlov's doggies--WTF!! Then you have the final five minutes of the film. In it we see the abusive fiancé get manhandled by his longtime victim and all around bad actress. There is an impromptu wedding where Black people are dressed like angels and are hanging from the ceiling--WTF!!! The only reason to watch it this far, besides testing your threshold for pain, is the hope that the second villain of this story gets her ass handed to her as well. Guess what, it doesn't happen. Instead, Perry takes the testicularly challenged way out and plays it safe, ending the movie on a tone of forgiveness--WTF!! I'm pretty sure that, if given a day , I could probably write a doctoral dissertation on all the ways this movie sucks. Don't even get me started on the rest of Tyler Perry's films. I'm just going to say this. In my opinion, as a Black guy, D.W. Griffith's legacy lives on. The irony is that it is doing so through a Black man who will be praised for doing what Birth of a Nation did, selling us down the river. I only wish Perry's films were dudes so I could kick them in the nuts. Thanks a lot, dude!! What are you going to follow this up with in 2009, a comedy about the raping and savage beating of slaves in Colonial America?

Yes, Tyler Perry's latest maudlin soap opera/outrageous comedy/Christian preachfest has all the wifebeating, handsome menial workers, inopportune times to walk in the door and fat black sass we've come to expect from a Tyler Perry film, and this time, he's behind the camera, resulting in a visual look that is, surprisingly, better than the last one, at least in spurts. The opening sequence is Barbara Walters/ Casablanca" soft-lensed, and deceptively so. Also, her bedroom scenes are bathed in a suffocatingly everpresent blue glow, successfully transferring visually the vibe of the situation. I don't really need to recount the plot strands here. If you've seen and enjoy Tyler Perry's films, you go in knowing exactly what is going to be here. And if you haven't seen or don't enjoy his films, why the hell would you be watching them? It involves a woman being forced by her overbearing mother into an abusive marriage, her damaged-goods sister finding romance with a friendly bus driver, and everpresent Plot Interjection 'big momma' Madea, once again getting arrested, forced to take care of a runaway orphan that also always seems to get in trouble and is a bit of a wayward youth. Preposterously, the segment that works best for the film...is Medea herself. Perry has toned her (and her angry old man of a brother) down quite a bit, scaling her back to the point that she actually comes off as something resembling reality, playing tough-love-sass court-ordered mother, and where in the last film, Medea brandished a pistol and cut a couch in half with a chainsaw in the first 10 minutes of appearing on screen, here serves as advice dispenser and child bearer, even as the film leads to the almost fascinatingly inappropriate finales that seem to color both works I've seen from him. In fact, this expression of Tyler Perry through his films is more the mark of an auteur than a lot of directors saddled with that tag ever will be. The term auteur is not necessarily a judgment of quality, and Tyler Perry's films are all most wholly Tyler Perry's films, and it's fascinatingly rare to see a film attempt to present every side of the human experience and its fractured, human creator, as Perry's not a philosopher, and doesn't claim to be. He is an ordinary man who is trying to satisfy all the bases of what he wants to do. He does what he can to be a good Christian, to follow the tenets and followings, but he is not a perfect man, and he cannot help himself from his natural human nature. Sometimes, he just cannot help ogling an attractive young woman, or indulging in exuberant revenge fantasies. But like all men, he is not all bad, and not all good, with the truth falling somewhere in between, wholly reflected in his output, resulting in among, regardless of quality, the most honest productions to hit the screen in some time. The acting has markedly raised the game from the previous film. Where in Diary, Kimberly Elise was flooring the pedal and putting everything into it, almost every single other actor in the film let her down. The supporting cast here, including absolute professionals like Blair Underwood, Lynn Whitfield, Boris Kodjoe and one of the few bright spots in the first film, Cicely Tyson, shine well beyond their means in limited roles. Tyler Perry also has improved markedly. In the interim between the first film and this, he seems to have learned not only how to write for his creations, but ACT them, as he was stiff and awkward in the first film, but gets into the grooves and crevasses of the character here. This is obvious not a perfect film. It's not great art, the characters, even as the actors may stretch them well, still serve as ciphers and Types to allow for no confusion in his message, despite the fact that for me, confusion serves as the only message to be derived. The comedy may be less over-the-top, but to make up for it, he's ramped up the melodrama, as not only is one bedroom scene so over-the-top that it threatens to collapse upon itself, but Blair Underwood seems to be almost foaming at the mouth on occasion, and it is a testament to him as an actor that he somehow manages to reign this character in and keep him from plummeting over that edge. Also, the film's denouement is abrupt and a lot of plot strands are just sort of glossed over or immediately solved for easier access. Does Tyler Perry contradict himself? Very well then, he contradicts himself. He is large, he contains multitudes. He is not just one thing, and he is not perfect, and each play, and each film he puts out is just as revealing and yet maddeningly enigmatic as I'm Not There is for Bob Dylan, and this most certainly does not guarantee quality, as each story has to rest of its own laurels. But, where "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" failed because its plot and characters failed to outgrow their sitcom/soap opera limitations, "Madea's Family Reunion" is no better on paper than its predecessor, but its cast and crew has improved, and are striving well-behind their means, giving 110%, and somehow, it works, and I, for one, must grace this film with a big, hearty "AMEN!". Add this one to the underrated file. {Grade: 7.75/10 (B/B-) / #30 (of 70) of 2006}