I saw this film last night in the theater with a packed audience. It is the first time that I've ever attended one of Perry's films on an opening night. Quite an experience. Overall I thought the film was okay. There were some major potholes that left me wondering... Bate's and Woodard's performances were by far the best, and I think Tyler Perry could have had a very successful film if he had concentrated on the friendship between those two women alone. There were so many other story lines going on at once - perhaps too many, but a movie about two friends, one with Alzheimer's, the other one intent on helping her ailing friend enjoy her life by taking a road trip, meeting interesting people along the way, would have been a gripping, good story, one perhaps in which Bates and Woodard might have been nominated for an Oscar. As an audience member I greatly appreciated the scenes where these two stellar actresses were on camera together. In my opinion, they were the best part of the entire movie. The dysfunctional relationships between Andrea and Chris and William and Jillian are typical. There was nothing new or creative in their situations. With regard to Chris and Andrea, they never seem to be on the same course - each wants to do their own thing. As far as William and Jillian - we know very little about their relationship. So much attention is paid to the affair between Andrea and William and so little is paid to the two marriages, that you end up saying "who cares about these marriages anyway". As far as affairs go, it seems a bit unrealistic that they would be so sloppy in covering up their indiscretion. And are we to believe that they went so far as to use company money to further their illicit affair. This makes no sense considering how much money William has. Why wouldn't he pay for a motel in cash? Both parties knew about the "no fraternization policy" yet they wouldn't take precautions to ensure that they wouldn't be caught and fired. I understand that this storyline is a writer/director's choice, but it doesn't seem realistic. The fact that Chris would ask money from William to start a construction company that would directly compete with Cartwright Industries makes Chris' character come off as weak and ill prepared. You don't really root for him either - except perhaps to encourage him to leave his wife. And actually I thought she should leave him since she seemed to detest him greatly. This is the man; however, who goes to the bank to ask for a loan wearing overalls. Sorry, I wouldn't invest in his "dream company" either, but this also gives credence to the fact as to why his wife might be embarrassed of him. I kept wishing that just once he would wear a suit to an interview and have a business plan or proposal in writing. Lastly, Alice (Woodard's character) is a millionaire?! What the heck? She does not use her money to build a better restaurant or to help her poor daughter and son-in law. Yet, she watches her daughter practically beg for $300 from Andrea. This left me scratching my head. No doubt Alice knew of Chris and Ben's desire to start a construction company, a venture if profitable, would have helped her daughters and her grandson. Yet it never occurred to hear to say, "I'm a millionaire, I'll loan you $300,000." Her only response to her daughter's question about her being a millionaire at the end is "You didn't ask." Come on. Don't get me started on the homeless millionaire. I wish Perry's storyline had been more developed, but so much attention was paid to Andrea/Chris/William/Jillian, that some of the stronger story lines, like the homeless man Nick, were never fully developed. I liked certain elements - Alice and Charlotte's story lines being the best. The acting was done well, even with the characters who were two dimensional. I really wondered about the overall message of the movie. Perry always has a message within his movies, but this one was so convoluted that the message was almost lost. A rule of thumb is to stick to "one" message. He seemed to try to cram several into this one movie. All in all, I think Tyler Perry's movies are progressively getting better. This is his most diversified cast yet and his stories are slowly breaking out of the stereotypical "black box," in which we blacks are so often put. I'm hoping that he will realize his strengths and see that he doesn't have to cram five story lines into one movie, because this weakens the individual story lines. And it comes across as rushed and underdeveloped. With regard to this movie he had the potential to make four our five separately strong movies thus giving proper development to the characters and their story lines. I believe he has the potential and I look forward to seeing the manifestation of that in his future films.
Review of The Family That Preys
