A would-be feminist farce that will leave you slackjawed at its incompetence.
Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Diary of a Mad Black Woman
There’s an audience for this schizophrenic movie, without question, but that doesn’t make it any better.
A crudely made hodgepodge of rank clichés that veers between shrill melodrama, glossy soap opera, and broad, sitcom-level comedy.
Perhaps the juxtaposition of slapstick comedy and stark drama somehow works on stage, but it's jarringly off-putting on film.
Raucous and overwrought, the movie is still a hoot to watch and even more fun to talk back to.
The material comes off as a serious miscalculation in Perry and director Darren Grant's film adaptation.
This peculiar and none-too-felicitous mix of Bible-thumping, heartstring-jerking and man-bashing never finds its tone, careening wildly from slapstick comedy to soapy melodrama.
There's nothing real or even funny in Perry's performance; all padding and crude makeup, he shouts every line as if he's still playing to the upper balcony in a rundown Masonic Hall.
Tries to be every single movie ever made all at once, leaving the viewer with the emotional equivalent of whiplash.
The low comedy and high melodrama, with a touch of inspiration, don't blend easily, and here the match seems forced.
Be forewarned that writer/actor Tyler Perry's cross-dressing turn as same only accounts for a meager portion of this cynical exercise in manipulation.
Those who aren't already converts to Perry's dramaturgy will wonder what elevates this material above, say, a typical episode of '227.'
Darren Grant, a music vid guy making his feature debut, presents it all in a smooth, elegant package that almost disguises the fact that what we're watching is the narrative equivalent of an eight-ring circus.
One is left with the sense that while Perry has captured certain truths about human experience, he undermines himself by ignoring psychological detail in favor of big gestures and simplistic explanations.
It turns on a dime from scenes of maudlin sentimentality to manic slapstick, then turns on another dime to trite Christian moralizing.
While the movie fills a much-needed niche in the lily-white Hallmark movie department, this clunky, borderline-amateur directorial effort from music-video veteran Darren Grant simply doesn't do justice to the material. In fact, it's downright awful.
The whole thing is a melodrama; there's nothing fatally wrong with that. But the set-ups are so easy and obvious, the humor so broad and the characters such one-dimensional stereotypes that the drama is laughable.
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