It's a cheap melodrama that presses all the right sentimental buttons.
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.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for drug content, thematic elements, crude sexual references and some violence
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Feb 25, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $50,382,128
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
Madea is a way to model a raucous, powerful, but still jokey mad woman-ness for Helen.
Helen's chaste swain wants intimacy, not sex. C'mon—even Baptists are interested in sex. They just don't do it standing up, because someone might think they were dancing.
It must be a hoot when performed live. But it only works in spurts on screen.
it's funny enough to overcome the cliches, and sweet enough to make those cliches feel warm and fuzzy
Sloppy, insipid mishmash of female empowerment, Christian thought and gun-and-weed jokes is an early front-runner for Worst Film of 2005.
Like Perry's acting, the movie swings from manic comedy to quiet drama in a heartbeat.
The humor is so cartoonish that it's impossible to take the "serious" content as being representative of anything remotely real.
Selling the gospel with flatulence, horny old men, penis-size jokes, vengeful wronged women, outrageous drag queen grandmas and drug humor apparently pays pretty darned well.
Spits in the face of all pretexts to artistry, to craftsmanship, to simple good taste.
Talk about mixed messages. Here's a cruel, mean-spirited movie that's supposed to have a Christian theme.
The film strains to be funny just as hard as the audience strains to stay awake.
Here is a brand new genre: A black-Christian romantic revenge comedy. It doesn’t quite work, but Tyler Perry is a jewel.
Perry doesn't have any delusions of artistry, and potentially, at least, that's refreshing. But any points he earns for lack of pretense are immediately gobbled up by his lack of subtlety.
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