Review: Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviews

Madea's Family Reunion

Tenderness illuminates the pontificating

By TOM MEEK | March 1, 2006

2.0 Stars

MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION: A mix of gospel, fart jokes, and drag

Tyler Perry wrote and starred in the shoddy surprise hit Diary of a Mad Black Woman. In the sequel he directs as well, marginally improving an eclectic melodramatic mélange that includes gospel instruction, fart jokes, and Perry in drag as the formidable aunt of the title. Here a she-devil mother (Lynn Whitfield) has divided two sisters. Vanessa (Rochelle Aytes) is engaged to a banking big shot (Blair Underwood) who beats her; Lisa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson) has sworn off men and taken a vow of celibacy. At the title reunion (Cicely Tyson and Maya Angelou pop up in preachy cameos), the right man (Boris Kodjoe) comes into Lisa’s life and Perry drops in a sermon on how young black people can do better. Some wonderfully tender moments illuminate the pontificating, but the jerky heavy-handedness and inconsistency make this an extended trailer for the next Madea.

Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Tyler Perry, More

| More

More Information

Watch the trailer for Madea's Family Reunion (QuickTime)

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | April 18, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: UNDEFEATED | March 15, 2012
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

REVIEW: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX | March 01, 2012
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.