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Madea's Family Reunion

Tenderness illuminates the pontificating
By TOM MEEK  |  March 1, 2006
2.0 2.0 Stars
MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION: A mix of gospel, fart jokes, and dragTyler 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.
Related: Daddy’s Little Girls, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?, Review: Madea Goes to Jail, More more >
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