Review of Madea's Family Reunion (2006) by Greedybadidea — 13 Jun 2020

After Madea (Tyler Perry) violates the terms of her house arrest (which she was subjected to in the previous film), the judge orders her to take in a rebellious foster child named Nikki (Keke Palmer) in order to avoid jail. At first, Madea and Nikki clash due to the latter's bad attitude and disrespect, stemming from her poor life up to this point, including an absent father, a mother in jail, and a slew of uncaring foster homes. However, Madea tells her that the only way to really overcome her poor life is to work to do and be better than the people who have let and put her down. Nikki takes Madea's words to heart and gradually reforms her behavior over the course of the film.

Lisa Breaux (Rochelle Aytes), one of Madea's nieces, is engaged to Carlos Armstrong (Blair Underwood), an abusive and controlling investment banker. While she desperately wants to get out of the engagement, her conniving gold-digging mother, Victoria (Lynn Whitfield), urges her to go through with the wedding, telling Lisa to avoid doing things that make Carlos angry. Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), the other of Madea's nieces, who lives with her, has two children fathered by two different men, neither of whom are involved in their children's lives; Victoria regularly degrades Vanessa for this, even referring to her grandchildren as "bastards". Vanessa is successfully, though through some struggle, wooed by poetry-spouting bus driver Frankie Henderson, who is the single father of a young son, and has a passion for painting. As much as Vanessa likes Frankie, she is emotionally closed off and has a difficult time trusting him.

During the confrontation, Vanessa reveals a shocking secret to her younger sister: Victoria allowed her second husband, Lisa's father, to rape Vanessa in order to keep him in the marriage. Vanessa states that the sexual abuse occurred on a regular basis after that, which as a result, left her closed off emotionally and unable to trust the men in her life, including Frankie. Even more shockingly, Victoria makes no attempt to deny Vanessa's accusations. Instead, she rationalizes her actions, telling her daughters that they would have been destitute if Lisa's father had left, and that after going through a previous divorce with Vanessa's father and working two jobs to support the family afterwards, she was tired of struggling and felt that she deserved better. She also reveals that her own mother, a prostitute and drug addict, regularly traded her for "ten dollars and a fix", essentially almost mirroring what she'd done with Vanessa and Lisa's fathers.

Victoria then states that she would not allow Vanessa to ruin her happiness, and that she would not apologize for the choices she'd made. She then turns on a horrified Lisa, demanding that Lisa begin taking care of her financially as she made sure that Lisa had the best of everything while she was growing up. Vanessa then derides Victoria for constantly controlling her and Lisa as her punching bag and puppet respectively, and how it has left her a mess; she vows not to let the pain and suffering her mother has subjected her to over the years hold her back any longer, and to break their family's tragic cycle by embracing the true love that she has found with Frankie and being a better mother to her own children. Victoria then leaves and later lies to Lisa, telling her that Carlos has agreed to counseling. Lisa eventually returns to Carlos and resumes her wedding plans.

At the family reunion, held at the home of ninety-six-year-old Aunt Ruby (Georgia Allen), Vanessa and Victoria get into another verbal confrontation, which eventually turns into a physical fight after Victoria insults Vanessa about her relationship with Frankie in front of the family.

On the day of Lisa's wedding, Madea tells her that it is time for her to stand up against Carlos and fight back. When he arrives at Madea's house, he asks that he and Lisa be alone. Madea asks Carlos if he'd like something to eat, and tells Lisa to give him some grits on the stove, noting to her that they're hot. When Madea leaves the house with Nikki, Carlos brutally slaps Lisa in the face, but then, in retaliation, she throws the pot of hot grits in his face, scalding him badly, and then beats him with a frying pan, as Madea listens outside with laughter. She then takes off her engagement ring and throws it at an injured Carlos before leaving. At the church, Lisa announces to the guests that Carlos had been beating her every day since they first got engaged and that the wedding is off. Frankie then asks Vanessa to marry him. She says yes, and they're married at the church instead.