by Jeffrey K. Lyles | Movie Review
Tyler Perry had made serious strides towards mainstream credibility with ‘‘Daddy’s Little Girls” and ‘‘Why Did I get Married?” which featured believable and honest characters dealing with real life issues.
Yet for some inexplicable reason, Perry decides to return to more cartoonish comedy with his latest, ‘‘Meet the Browns,” a disappointing follow-up considering he seemed to be on the verge of challenging himself as a filmmaker instead of settling into his old, more familiar niche.
Brenda (the criminally under-utilized Angela Bassett) is having a hard time making ends meet while trying to be a good mother to her three children which becomes even more difficult when she loses her job.
Her oldest, Michael (Lance Gross, ‘‘House of Payne”) is a standout high school basketball star but is growing increasingly frustrated watching his mother struggle and is tempted by the fast lifestyle of his drug dealing best friend.
She travels to Georgia for the funeral of her father, a man she never met and gets more than she bargains for in meeting her relatives. David Mann gets some quick laughs as Brenda’s half-brother Leroy Brown with his colorful attire, but his shtick gets old just as quickly.
Bassett is a great, Oscar-nominated actress but Brenda is written too weak to really take advantage of her talents. Outside of two scenes, she’s basically just reacting to everyone else as opposed to being placed in a position where she carries the film on her own — a feat she’s more than capable of accomplishing.
Instead she’s stuck trying to create some sparks out of a poorly-written romantic subplot with former NBA star Rick Fox, who really looks like he’s trying hard but is making a conscious effort to ‘‘act.” He plays Harry, a basketball coach who takes an interest in Michael but whenever he’s not talking shop, he seems uncomfortable in this high-profile a role. Gross on the other hand, really delivers a strong performance and will merit future attention if this is any indication as he gives some much needed oomph to his role, which is standard teen TV movie of the week material.
Perry directs the film much like one of his plays so it has much more of a confined feel to it and interior shots look like sets and not rooms.
Perry’s films have always had a spiritually uplifting theme, but in this outing the religious message of ‘‘God has a plan” seems forced and added in simply out of obligation to his fan base.
There’s all kinds of weird coincidences going on as well, like how Harry can afford numerous trips back and forth from Georgia to Illinois to mentor Michael and keep his job, much less work with any other kids.
Then, when things look like they can’t get worse, Perry dons his drag attire once again to play his popular Madea character in a pointless car chase scene that has nothing to do with the rest of the film other than providing a needless on-screen appearance for him.
Perry knows how to set the stage well, but he struggles with ending his films as the conclusions are rushed to speed to the happy ending.
Perry’s better than this both from a creative and basic comedic perspective. His devoted fans will make this a hit but it’s not his strongest effort. His next film ‘‘The Family That Preys” features Sanaa Lathan and Kathy Bates and seems like exactly the kind of higher-reaching material he should be setting his sights on at this point in his career.
Rating: H
Meet the browns
Rated PG-13; Comedy⁄Drama;100 minutes
Director: Tyler Perry
Cast: Angela Bassett, Rick Fox, David Mann, Lance Gross, Sofia Vergara, Frankie Faison, Irma P. Hall, Tamela J. Mann, Margaret Avery and Jenifer Lewis
