Review of I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009) by Tony P — 07 Feb 2010

One thing that can be said for Tyler Perry: he's consistent. His films consistently contain the same themes and consistently make a ton of money. You can look at a Tyler Perry movie only one of two ways: as a film or as entertainment. As entertainment, it works. Funny, dramatic, talented casts. As "film", it's atrocious. The writing is sophomoric with plot holes big enough to drive a semi through.

In this one, three kids break into Madea's home for food and get caught. Madea learns they live with their grandmother who hasn't been seen for days and she takes them to their aunt's house. Henson plays Aunt April, a narcissistic, self absorbed, alcoholic singer involved with a married man. The last thing she wants is kids to deal with. The church down the street from her sends over a Colombian handyman to live with her (!) in exchange for work done around her house. Drama, comedy, and music with a message ensues, as it usually does in a Tyler Perry film, with a nice happy ending where the good people get what they want and the bad people get what they deserve (PLEASE don't act like I just gave anything away; if you've seen one Tyler Perry Movie you've pretty much seen them all).

Henson is one of the most unlovable, unpitiable characters in recent memory, but handyman Rodriguez calls her "warm and sensitive". This is either bad editing or bad writing or both. But it is emblematic of what's always wrong with Perry's movies. He seems to care less about a coherent story than about getting some sort of message across. One thing holds true for just about every Tyler Perry film: his Black female characters are written with a depth and breadth rarely seen on screen. The top notch talent he attracts however (and Henson is wonderful), cannot overcome the horrible plot and dialogue.

For Perry fans this will probably be another "great movie", but I suspect that some are getting a little tired of the same old same old.