Hollywood recognizes Tyler Perry as the first filmmaker to successfully bring faith-based films to the general marketplace. There are others that the Christian audience is familiar with, but his films reach across ages, cultures, and audiences to bring truth in ways that startle you and he's got the attention of Hollywood's film community. He hits you over the head with his faith messages, but he also takes away the sting with his humor and insight into today's culture. Like all of his characters, Perry has some brokenness in his life, but he's channeled it into producing movies that preach the Gospel and make you laugh till it hurts.

Review   Star Power   Don't Miss the Music   Rating

Synopsis
Tyler Perry's eighth film in five years is an adaptation of his play I Can Do Bad All By Myself. Coincidentally, it's the play in which his iconic character Madea first appeared. When the film opens, Madea catches three siblings breaking into her home to steal Uncle Joe's VCR. Rather than call the "po-po," Madea takes them to their aunt's house and demands payment for the VCR and her broken windows.

Aunt April (Taraji P. Henson) is a nightclub singer drowning her own sorrows with alcohol and an affair with a married man. She abandoned her hope for a normal life a long time ago and wants nothing to do with her dead sister's children. When Sandino (Adam Rodriguez), a Latino immigrant looking for room and board in exchange for work, comes to her door, her once-empty house is full of people she doesn't want around. Soon April realizes she has to choose between her old life of secret sorrow and pain and the possibility of a new life of hope, family and faith.

Review
From the moment she first appeared on screen, Madea was one of my favorite characters. With her combination of sass, homegrown wisdom, and no-nonsense approach to right and wrong, she puts the fear of God (and her pistol) into anyone who crosses her path. You might be intimidated by her, but Madea's the one you want on your side when things get tough. In Perry's films, Madea is a tool that disarms the audience, opening them up to the truths presented in his stories. In this story, one truth is that you can do bad all by yourself, but you need a community of loving people to do good and help you find faith.

Like most of his stories, there is a certain predictability about the way the plot unfolds, and pieces of the film echo other movies. But the point here is not to be surprised by twists and turns, but to understand the lesson the main character is learning. The first feature film produced entirely at Perry's new studio in Atlanta, I Can Do Bad All By Myself highlights the effectiveness of the team he's built through five years of television and film. It also showcases his ability to disarm you with humor one minute, and stun you with the truth the next.

As this film illustrates, none of us has a perfect family. We may not want to admit it, but we're all broken, some more visibly than others. But it's our family that loves us when we're not lovable, challenges us to be better than we are, and in the end stands alongside us during our worst crises.

Star Power
With each production, Perry attracts more and more star power, and this one may have the most stellar cast yet. As April, Taraji P. Henson delivers a solid performance as the woman whose tough exterior and hardened interior is melted away and replaced with a soft heart that opens up to love. Her leading man is Sandino, played by Adam Rodriguez (fans will know him from CSI: Miami). He is wonderfully cast as the strong, not-so-silent heroic love interest with a soft heart for the abandoned children. It's his help and strong faith that draw April back to her own roots in the church, and when she needs it most, comes to her rescue.

A bright newcomer on the horizon is Hope Olaide Wilson, who plays the 16-year-old Jennifer, April's niece. Caretaker for her brothers, she's as tough as they come, but at the slightest sign of care extended to her from the adults, she shows the vulnerability of a child forced to be an adult too soon. Wilson holds great promise as an actress, and I can't wait to see where her career takes her.

Don't Miss the Music
Probably the greatest strength of the film is its music. With live performances from powerhouses Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight and Rev. Marvin Winans, the music alone is worth the price of admission. Each delivers their songs perfectly with absolute gusto that lets you know they're singing from the depths of their heart and faith. On top of their musical prowess, they can act, delivering key lines and messages that deliver straight to the heart.

Perry promises you'll laugh until it hurts, cry, and come away with a greater sense of hope and purpose, and he knows how to deliver. As writer, director, producer, and actor, he's a quadruple threat, making films that reach every background. It's said that his films are made for the African-American culture, but the truth is that anyone who's human will see themselves in his flawed characters in need of redemption. His films may never win Oscars, but they'll win fans and followers for this man whose faith guides everything he does.

Rating
I Can Do Bad All By Myself is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving a sexual assault on a minor, violence, drug references and smoking and alcohol use. This film is not suitable for children under 13 or 14, as they'll probably be disturbed by the violence against the children and worried about how they're going to survive.

Courtesy of Lionsgate Studios, and a national publicist, Angela attended a promotional screening of I Can Do Bad All By Myself.