Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral (2019) – My rating: 4.5/10

“Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral” is a comedy written, directed, and produced by Tyler Perry. It is the eleventh and final installment of the Madea film series. The movie follows a joyous family reunion that becomes a hilarious nightmare when Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia, where they find themselves unexpectedly planning a funeral that might unveil some ugly family secrets. In my opinion, this is the worse movie Tyler Perry has ever made. I was actually sorry I went to see it.

Right from the onset of “A Madea Family Funeral”, the jokes started flying, the problem is the jokes were not that funny. I felt the plot was downright ridiculous and unrealistic, plus Mabel “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry), used old theatrics e.g., using his male voice and asides that worked well in the Madea plays, to deliver hilarious lines but didn’t work on the big screen. Anthony (Derek Morgan) died while having sex with his mistress (Tiffany Black) who happens to be a good friend of Anthony’s family. The team, Madea, Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis) and Hattie (Patrice Lovely), tried to withhold this devastating secret from Vianne (Jen Harper), Anthony’s wife, which made for a failing hush-hush operation. Any normal person would have noticed the whole presentation was bogus but for the comedy to work, Vianne missed the entire point, making the premise of the film a downtrodden disaster.

AJ (Courtney Burrell) seemed to be the focus of the film. He is the son of Anthony and Vianne, the brother of Silvia (Ciera Payton), Jesse (Rome Flynn) and the husband of Carol (KJ Smith), who he not only cheated on but abused verbally. BTW, the woman AJ cheated with is his brother’s fiancé, Gia (Aeriél Miranda). The remainder of the story is so ridiculous, I am at a loss for words. For some reason, Tyler introduced a new character into the mix with no legs named Heathrow who cannot talk without a device pressed to his throat.  This is supposed to be Tyler Perry’s last Madea movie. I’m not sure with the kind of money Madea pulls in ($27M opening weekend box office) that this is really going to be the end but according to Rotten Tomatoes (1), it should be! As much as I’ve always loved Tyler Perry and his beloved character, Madea, I have to warn you not to waste your time or money on this one, it’s really bad! Don’t Check It Out!

 

WHAT MEN WANT (2019) – My rating: 8.5/10

“What Men Want” is a fantasy comedy directed by Adam Shankman and is loosely based on the 2000 film, “What Women Want” in reverse gender. The plot follows a woman who, after drinking a potent concoction given by a shaman, gains the ability to hear men’s inner thoughts. While this is not a new concept, the movie is surprisingly funny.

Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) is an executive sports agent working for Summit Worldwide Management, which is mostly male-dominated. She’s been over-looked for partner several times but believes today is the day. She and her gay assistant Brandon (Josh Brener), who wants to be a sports rep, are gearing up toward a celebration, believing she is going to make partner. Ali is passed over once again, which makes her fighting mad. Ali’s boss, Nick (Brian Bosworth), acknowledges that Ali is a hard worker but he says she just doesn’t connect well with the other men. Ali announces to everyone in the building that she WILL sign rising basketball superstar Jamal Barry (Shane Paul McGhie) and prove to others why she deserves to be partner. Ali goes to meet her co-workers as they try to work out a deal with Jamal and his father, Joe Dolla (Tracy Morgan) but fails.

Ali spends time with her father Skip (Richard Roundtree) at the boxing gym he manages before they go to grab dinner. Skip points out a new bartender named Will (Aldis Hodge), whom Ali finds attractive. She stays there to introduce herself, and Will makes her a special cocktail. They go back to his house where they end up engaging in a wild night of sex. In the morning, Ali is in for a surprise when Will’s six year old son Ben (Auston Moore), appears in the bedroom wearing her panties on his head siting, “Wakonda forever” from the movie, Black Panther. She realizes she is late for work and runs out, showing up to a photo shoot wearing evidence of her wild night.

Ali is scheduled to attend a bachelorette party that evening for Mari, (Tamala Jones) one of her three best girlfriends, which also includes Ciarra, (Phoebe Robinson) and Olivia (Wendi McLendon-Covey),  who employed the services of a psychic named Sister (Erikah Badu).  Ali is first to get a reading by Sister and is given tea made of weed, Peyote and Cocaine. While dancing, Ali is hit by a questionable object that causes her to fall, hit her head and pass out. She wakes up in a hospital where she discovers she is able to hear her male doctor’s thoughts. Ali is so freaked out by her new found power, she runs all the way to her company building able to hear the thoughts of all males around her. Upset, she tracks down the psychic for help. Sister advices her to use this gift to get what she wants at work. Agreeing, Ali goes back to her job and starts listening to the mind of her colleagues.

I was truly surprised at how funny “What Men Want” is.  The original with Mel Gibson was nowhere near as funny.  The story is full of scenes that are both hilarious and entertaining.  Keep in mind, “What Men Want” is a fantasy comedy and consider my above lead-in to be short and sweet because there is so much more to come in the actual film.  The acting is absolutely brilliant as is the plot.  Viewers rated “What Men Want” five out of five stars, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before.  Rotten Tomatoes was just that, a rotten rating of only 43%.  I have no clue why they rated the movie so low but I really enjoyed it.  Check It Out, you won’t be sorry.