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Movies / On DVD / Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Diary of a Mad Black Woman

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Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

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Reviews Counted:106

Fresh:17

Rotten:89

Average Rating:3.9/10

Consensus: Tyler Perry's successful play can't make the move to the screen; this mix of slapstick, melodrama and spirituality lacks a consistent tone.

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Genre: Television

Synopsis: Filled with a mix of comedy and drama, the film Diary of a Mad Black Woman is based on the immensely popular play of the same name written by Tyler Perry. The story focuses on Helen McCarter... Filled with a mix of comedy and drama, the film Diary of a Mad Black Woman is based on the immensely popular play of the same name written by Tyler Perry. The story focuses on Helen McCarter (Kimberly Elise), who has seemingly had the perfect life with husband Charles McCarter (Steve Harris). Over the years, Helen has been a faithful and loving wife, while Charles built a successful and lucrative career as a prominent Atlanta attorney. They wear the latest fashions, drive the nicest cars, have all the possessions they need, and they live on an expansive estate complete with an extravagant mansion, swimming pool, tennis court and all the trappings of wealth – a little piece of paradise away from the city. However, on the eve of their 18th wedding anniversary, Helen’s paradise begins to crumble as Charles announces that he wants a divorce. He abruptly and literally tosses Helen out of the mansion to make room for the other woman. With all of her possessions packed in a moving van, Helen starts on her journey to put the pieces of her life back together. Through the assistance of her friends, family, faith, and a twist of fate, Helen finds the strength and empowerment she needs to get control of her circumstances. She also finds that the tragic events of her life soon become comic, especially with the guidance and help-- mostly unsolicited, by the way--of her pot-smoking, gun-toting, and much beloved, grandmother figure Madea (Tyler Perry). Director Darren Grant brings Tyler Perry’s vision to the screen by intricately weaving together a mix of drama and comedy to tell the universal experience of broken hearts, redemption, forgiveness, recovery, new found love, inner strength and the importance of family and faith as revealed through a cast of colorful and sometimes familiar characters. [More]

Starring: Kimberly Elise, Tyler Perry, Steve Harris, Cicely Tyson

Starring: Kimberly Elise, Tyler Perry, Steve Harris, Cicely Tyson, Tamara Taylor, Shemar Moore

Director: Darren Grant

Director: Darren Grant
Screenwriter: Tyler Perry
Producer: Tyler Perry, Reuben Cannon
Composer: Camara Kambon
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Reviews for Diary of a Mad Black Woman

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 24 2006 04:07 AM

Time Out

N/R

Joe Leydon

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 18 2008 06:15 AM

Variety

splat
2/5

Mark Halverson

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 07 2008 03:16 AM

Sacramento News & Review

N/R

Nigel Floyd

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 16 2007 03:16 AM

Time Out New York

splat
2/4

Peter Travers

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 14 2007 03:16 AM

Rolling Stone

splat

Prairie Miller

In an extremely strange genre combo, inner city gross out comedy meets evangelical passion play in Diary Of A Mad Black Woman.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 30 2007 08:21 PM

Long Island Press

splat
1/4

Kam Williams

What ruins this revenge flick is Madea's boorish, bull in the china store act reminiscent of the sassy black woman stereotype popularized by Sanford and Son's Aunt Esther. Loud and ignorant, Medea tends to trivialize every scene.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 17 2007 12:00 PM

Princeton Town Topics

splat
1.5/4

LaTonya Taylor

A satisfying end, but it takes a lot of work -- and a lot of suspended disbelief -- to get there.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 01 2006 04:06 PM

Christianity Today

N/R

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 26 2006 03:17 AM

Combustible Celluloid

splat
C-

Christopher Smith

This bizarre movie is many things--a celebration of Christian values, a drag act, a drug plunge, a soap opera, a sitcom revenge fantasy.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 18 2005 06:15 AM

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

splat
1.5/4

Scott Nash

As a comedy this movie works. As a love story, the movie contains no sparks. The dialogue is stilted and unnatural, which belittles the drama.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 30 2005 03:21 AM

Three Movie Buffs

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 05 2005 07:10 PM

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

splat
1/5

David Cornelius

This is a film that’s gone way beyond the realm of bad, past disaster. This one’s in the area of all-time grand mistakes.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 28 2005 11:44 PM

eFilmCritic.com

tomato
5/5

Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel

This movie really touched upon an aspect of black life that we can all identify with. More realistic then all of these ghettofied movies that have been presented as representation of black life previously.

Full Review Source: | comment 1 Comment | Apr., 27 2005 03:15 AM

3BlackChicks Review

splat
1/5

Lance Goldenberg

...a passion play with a guy in drag (who could ask for anything more?)...

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 20 2005 05:56 PM

Weekly Planet (Tampa, FL)

splat
2/5

J. Robert Parks

What works in the theater doesn't always work in the movies. Part of the problem, as mentioned, is with the broadness of the material. But it doesn't help that the script relies way too much on syrupy voiceovers.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 09 2005 04:05 AM

Looking Closer

splat

Mark Palermo

Blandly directed and dramatically shameless.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 29 2005 05:38 AM

Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

splat

David Noh

Perry's writing is dramaturgy of the most primitive kind, with melodramatic situations, tons of woozy sentiment, and humor which might be described as 'lowbrow,' were that not probably too elevated a term for it.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 24 2005 10:16 PM

Film Journal International

tomato
3/4

James Kendrick

the film's dramatic components are just as outrageous as its comedic moments

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 20 2005 10:16 PM

Q Network Film Desk

tomato
2.5/4

Peter Howell

It's never less than watchable, a bizarre hybrid that somehow works as a whole, even though its various components don't mesh.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 18 2005 02:36 PM

Toronto Star

 
 
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