Review of Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (2008) by Brandon W — 22 Dec 2017

The Family that Preys is directed and written by Tyler Perry, and it stars Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates, Sanaa Lathan, Rockmond Dunbar, and Taraji P. Henson in a drama film about two best friends that are spending time together having fun in their own time, while their sons and daughters are having issues financially wise, and either some people have ideas about work that'll not go through, or are doing shady things in the business company.

I was curious about this film in that this is the second best reviewed film that Tyler Perry has directed and wrote, and I felt a need to record a lot of Tyler Perry films so that I'll be able to see what he's doing right, and what he's doing wrong.

So for this film, I can say that this is tons better than the previous Tyler Perry film that I've seen which is Boo 2! A Madea Halloween. The acting in this is really good, especially Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates as they are the best part of the film because their plot line is completely different from Tyler Perry's other films because all it is from them, is to hang out and have lots of fun together from road trips, making the best of their lives, and I find that very sweet, really interesting with drama moments that are actually earned while putting in humor that is really funny.

Their plot line is basically a slice of life sort of ordeal that I would honestly see a film about how they build their friendship and kept growing it. It wouldn't be a masterpiece, but it sure would be a nice change of pace and be way more fun than his typical melodrama films, but not in an over the top way like his Madea films.

Even the Christian aspects are surprisingly tamed in this, and are actually done in a way that gives an actually good idea of what a good Christian is suppose to act, it's just, man I wish it was only about them instead of the the other family plot line with how they act in a business or construction.

Not that it ruined the film, it didn't, but it definitely was the weakest part of the film, and that plot-line did hurt the movie because it does have the typical Tyler Perry aspects such as the soap opera melodrama.

It was a bit predictable, but what I wasn't expecting in this, was the Andrea character who is the worst part of the film to deal with. All she does is bicker and be a complete bitch to everybody she talks to, including her husband as I don't even understand why they were even married to begin with, or why even have a relationship with another person.

The movie doesn't have a reason why she acts like that, and even if there was somewhat a reason from her backstory, that doesn't excuse the way she acts to everybody who doesn't deserve it.

There were some satisfying moments that I enjoyed seeing many times on repeat, but they weren't enough for me to be ok with the Andrea character. Like I said, it didn't killed the film for me as I thought that plot line is meh at the very best, I was interested to see where it was going however, and there were enough of seeing Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard together doing their own thing is enough for me to actually like this film, which is surprising to say that from Tyler Perry except for I Can Do Bad All by Myself.