Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Movie Review: "A Madea Family Funeral" (2019)

Director: Tyler Perry
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Drama breaks out when a family patriarch has a heart attack while having an affair with another woman on his wedding anniversary and is discovered by his son, who was sleeping with his brother's fiance in the adjoining hotel room.

Jen Harper and Courtney Burrell argue at a funeral in the movie Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral
"Hey, somebody needs to wash their ass." (Image Source)
Well, at least "A Madea Family Funeral" is two times funnier than the last three Madea movies......meaning we actually laughed twice this time around whereas before, we laugh a grand total of zero times. This film is written and directed by Tyler Perry, who has been the creator, director, writer, and star of all the Madea films for the last 14 years. We've seen Madea go to family reunions, class reunions, Christmas parties, and to jail, so why not let her go to a funeral this time around? The story centers on a group of adult children who are gathering in a small rural town in Georgia to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of their parents Anthony (Derek Morgan) and Vianne (Jen Harper). What they don't know is that Anthony is having an affair with Vianne's best friend Renee (Quin Walters). During a sexual escapade at a local hotel on said wedding anniversary, Anthony has a heart attack. Coincidentally, he is discovered by his son A.J. (Courtney Burrell), who just so happened to be having a tryst with his brother's fiance Gia (AeriƩl Miranda) in the next room. Both of these affairs are also uncovered by Madea (Tyler Perry), Joe (Tyler Perry), Brian (Tyler Perry), Hattie (Patrice Lovely), and Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), who are all staying in the same hotel for Anthony and Vianne's anniversary party. Was there only one hotel available that particular day? The world may never know! Needless to say, drama ensues, relationships are tested, and instead of a party, the group may wind up planning a funeral instead.

Tyler Perry plays Joe and Heathrow in the film A Madea Family Funeral
"Daddy, I smelled you before I walked in the house." (Image Source)
We're not sure why people still give their money to such low-quality entertainment when there are so many other better options out there. Like most of Tyler Perry movies, "A Madea Family Funeral" offers heaps of toxic melodrama mixed with juvenile dick-and-weed humor that would be best enjoyed by an immature eighth grader. This is, of course, topped off with a smattering of racial stereotypes and deeply religious undertones. When we said in the above paragraph that we laughed a couple of times while watching this, don't be fooled. There's nothing "good" about "A Madea Family Funeral," and it's still an absolute misery to sit through for almost two hours. HOW?? How the hell did this movie push even 80 minutes? There's about 40 minutes of content here, 50 minutes tops. Perry is a filmmaker with a catalog of work spanning almost two decades now. He should know how to frame a shot so the audience can't see the shadows of a boom microphone in mirrors and windows and in the reflections of cars. Perry's work never rises above mediocre, and at his worst, his "films" are atrociously insufferable. It's not just the unfunny writing and the terrible directing, it's everything. The editing, the ADR, the humor, the stories, everything. The acting from most of the cast members is horrendous as each person delivers lines so stiffly and so lacking passion that it's like they're reading their lines off the page for the first time ever. We see mouths move to form f-bombs, only to be dubbed over with words like "frick," as if we can't tell the difference. If you're a film watcher who values actual effort being put forth to make movies that seem cohesively made, well, you're in for a world of pain should you choose to watch this.
Tyler Perry's Madea delivers a eulogy movie still
"That's right, death will make you dead." (Image Source)
We're all for watching films that involve crude humor, but nothing "A Madea Family Funeral" has to offer is funny, nor does it make much sense. This picture is a mismatch of conflicting tones that never blend together well. Tyler Perry makes jokes about cakes with scantily clad women riding wild cats and crudely transitions that into a weighty family drama surrounding unfaithful men and backstabbing best friends. We don't expect "Schindler's List" from the Madea movies, but we do expect something resembling witty banter, or funny jokes, or a film that won't bore us or put us to sleep at the very least. We can't for the life of us figure out why we keep subjecting ourselves to Tyler Perry's filmography. We think it's because we know he has it in him somewhere deep down inside to make a good movie. We so desperately want to like one of his pieces of work, but it just hasn't happened yet. We keep expecting different results and wind up with the same 'ol tired thing he has been doing for nearly 20 years. It should come as no surprise that you should avoid "A Madea Family Funeral" like the plague. Let's hope this really is the last Madea project for all of eternity.

My Rating: 2/10
BigJ's Rating: 2/10
IMDB's Rating: ~4.2/10
RT Rating: ~12%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

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