Movie & DVD Reviews
Page Sponsor
Exclusive Interview with Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry keeps pumping out his Madea films and the latest, “I Can Do Bad All by Myself”, follows the same template and formula. Full of redemption and hope this film centers around Madea (Perry) trying to help a wayward 16 year old named Jennifer. Jennifer’s only available family is her Aunt April (Taraji P. Henson) who is just as troubled. It takes the intervention of Madea and a handsome immigrant named Sandino (Adam Rodriguez) to get them both to open their hearts to the love and hope that only God, faith and family can bring.
Perry in describing Madea’s lack of biblical knowledge and in your face confrontation says, “as irreverent as she is it is very disarming. She makes you very comfortable. I use her as a tool to get people to laugh and relax so I can talk about God and talk about faith; mention the name Jesus in my films. It has worked and served its purpose very well. I have seen people who do not go to church and have no concept of God begin to change their lives because of something that was said in the film.”
Tyler goes on to describe this particular endeavor by saying, “I don’t know how much originality is in it because I have done a few of these and they all have the same theme. What is unique in this one is this is the closest that I have ever had to one of my plays due to the amount of music that is in it. Pastor Marvin Winans song and sermon was so powerful I didn’t cut it down or edit it. You feel the anointing when you are watching it. It is very powerful and very strong making it different than the others.”
The leading man in this film is played by CSI Miami’s Adam Rodriquez. In describing his character he says, “he seemingly had nothing to put importance on in this day and age of material things and the status that comes with those things. I loved that this guy who didn’t have any of these things including a place to live or a family yet he still held in tact the things that matter the most, the things that make life worth living.” Rodriquez also mentions that there are strong truths to take from this Perry flick, “You have to be willing to give love freely to be able to liberate other people to do the same thing. You have to be a leader in that sense. So many people are so afraid to be open and to be loving without expecting anything in return. When you do that, saying hello to a stranger, or helping someone you wouldn’t normally lend a hand to, you give people the strength to want to do the same for others.”
Henson, who plays a heavy drinking, club singer, sums up her character April simply by saying, “It is not until she reintroduces herself back to spirituality that she finds love again. God is love and God represents love. If you are not loving you are not living. You are among the walking dead.”
Fans of the Madea films and Perry’s plays and television work will more than likely flock to this one as well. If you are looking for some sort of branching out or shift in the Madea story line you may walk away disappointed. It is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving a sexual assault on a minor, violence, drug references and smoking so though it has a great message it may be better suited for your older teenage family members.
Used with permission - www.mungleshow.com
Share this page:
Facebook
MySpace
Google
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
