I have to make a confession. I watch Tyler Perry's Madea films. OK, JUST HEAR ME OUT! Now, I think they're all FAR from perfect films, but at the very least, I do enjoy watching the portions featuring Madea. Such was the case of my latest viewing, Madea's Big Happy Family. It's a bit embarrassing to say, but let's just get down to my review.First of all, we have a tangled web of subplots. The mother of a family, Shirley, is devastated to discover that her case of cancer has worsened, prompting her to plan a family dinner to tell her children about her condition. This includes her daughters, Kimberly and Tammy. Kimberly is a secretive woman (Improperly focused character #1), and Tammy is having trouble with her marriage, and her two disobedient children. This also includes Byron, a man on an unlucky streak, having served jail time for selling drugs, and behind on paying child support to his insufferably obnoxious ex-girlfriend. There's also some drama between Cora and Mr. Brown. But leave it to Madea to set things straight, and not be afraid to beat the living hell out of anyone who steps out of line.This movie is textbook Tyler Perry. As always, he gathers together a cast that could have been quite good, with good material, but their characters are inconsistently written, and their focus tends to blur because the script is overly cluttered with subplots. It's not a problem because they're hard to follow (They really aren't), but it's because it doesn't give these characters all the attention they deserve.This isn't even mentioning Tyler Perry's ubiquitous switch in tone. His rhythm moves as comedic scene, dramatic scene, comedic scene, etc. I think the comedy portions are better than the dramatic portions, but the flip flopping between the two makes things feel dull. At the end of the day, I didn't emotionally connect with the story like I feel I should have. For once, I wish Perry would construct a film that's sure of what it wants to be.I give it ** out of ****

People are giving this Title a bad review? Are you serious? The thing with Tyler Perry's films, is that they feature REAL life situations. None of the fake things you see in most films.His movie's are REAL. The feature original material that other films haven't duplicated. This movie was hilarious, makes you want to re-watch certain clips. 100%, two thumbs up, laugh-out-loud funny.People that give out bad reviews, JUST because you didn't understand is childish. Wake up and open you're eyes. REAL MATERIAL.Movies made my Mr. Perry continue to amazing me, amaze by how his content seem so close to how many of us live.

I'm not one of those people who hates any Tyler Perry production by default. In fact, I usually enjoy his work. But this movie is the bottom of the barrel. The movie can be described simply as a clichéd, preachy mess smothered in misogynistic undertones.The movie opens with Shirley and Aunt Bam in the hospital. We're supposed to be getting a quick laugh at Aunt Bam's forwardness towards the doctor. She's pretty much grinding on him like they're on a dance floor and I suppose the audience was supposed to find it funny but it only caused for a few awkward laughs of the "is this supposed to be funny...?" variety. Shirley finds out that her cancer has returned and she starts preaching about how God is so amazing. Riiiight... because when cancer survivors find out that their cancer has returned, they thank God for it. Eye rolls are surely to ensue and that opening scene sets the tone for the entire movie.Shirley wants to get all her children together for a family dinner so she can break the news to them but contrary to the misleading title, they're no Brady Bunch. The two sisters, Kimberly and Tammy, can't even sit in the same room together without insulting each other. Both sisters are convinced that the other sister is a despicable human being, unbeknownst to themselves that they're both unbearable. And the younger brother, Byron, doesn't even interact with the sisters at all. Not being he can't stand them, just because they never gave enough damns to have him share a single word with either sisters. Instead, he's caught up in his baby mama drama.Byron's storyline is the most ridiculous if only for how unbelievable his girlfriend, Renee, and ex-girlfriend, Sabrina are. Renee doesn't even pretend to give a damn about his well being, his son, or his family. She's pressuring him to sell drugs like it's rehab for a alcoholic. At one point when he loses his integrity and gives into the temptation of quick money, she tells him "I'm proud of you". And somehow, he still manages to stay with her through most of the movie. All the while, his baby mama, Sabrina, finds every way to ruin his life but apparently, it's because she still wants him.The side plot with Tammy is insulting, to say the least. She's a terrible mother and a disrespectful wife. She finds every opportunity to belittle her husband in front of her children and neither parents makes an attempt to discipline the kids when they call their dad a "punk ass" on separate occasions. Oh, but you want to know how they resolve their problem? Harold, the husband, stands up for himself. And by "stand up for himself", I mean doing exactly to his wife what she does to him by demanding her to shut up and sit down. What is the moral of the story? There's no equality in a relationship: You're either the sandwich-eater or the sandwich-maker. But at least when it's the man in the relationship, it's okay.Kimberly's side plot is... I don't even know. It's the same thing as Tammy's, except that her husband, Calvin, sometimes TRIES to defend himself. And she's more open about her desire of having nothing to do with her dysfunctional, emotionally abusive family. Somewhere near the ending of the 2nd act, Tammy exposes Kimberly at a family dinner about how she had a baby at 13 and left Shirley to raise him. Lo and behold, it's Byron. And that still wasn't enough to get him to share a single line with his "sisters". Also, we find out that the pregnancy was a result of rape and that's why she's such a terrible person. And voilà! We're left to assume that everyone knowing that she was raped was going to make her a better person.There's isn't very many funny parts in the movie aside from Sabrina's "Byreeeeeen!" gag. Madea isn't even enough to save this movie from the contradictory life lessons and the overexposed themes of baby mama drama, God-fearing mothers with their preachy speeches, and rape. It's the same thing in every movie and it's passed tired.

Let me start I have watched all of his films. Tyler Perry I implore you, please! bring us Afro-Americans, etc., more colored girls, the family that preys, why did I get married and less of this drivel. OK! I will give it to you maybe 1 of your other Tyler Perry presents, Madia.... was OK, 7 maybe out of 10.After the first 5 minutes of the movie, I promise you this, if you are cracking up and find it hilarious, stay. However, if you watch the first 5 minutes and think WTF; don't waste the other 1 hr and 40 minutes. Wait till Netflix, wait till HBO, wait till TBS/BET carry the movie. Do not encourage this, and just to remind you yes I typically like Tyler Perry Movies.The most infuriating thing about this is that I know he is capable, as a writer, producer and director of more. Subsequently, in this movie he took lots of short cuts, and it seemed like these scenes were shot and wrapped on the first take. I could excuse it more if this was his first movie and he continually got better from there....at the end of the movie, and I have never done this but I got my money back, and there is nothing more than what I would like than to support black movies, any of them Wayans, Spike, Martin, Eddie, and yes I will still see the next Tyler Perry Movie.Think of it this way out of a 10 rating there is a reason why the average is 2.5, ouch!