Tyler Perry’s – I Can Do Bad All By Myself – Now On DVD:

gospel | Feb 07, 2010 | Comments 0

Tyler Perry’s new movie “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” opened at the top of the box office in its first weekend with more than $24 million in ticket sales.

The comedy stars Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) as ahard-drinking nightclub singer forced to care for her delinquent niece and nephews. Besides directing and writing the film, based on his stage play of the same name, Tyler Perry co-stars as his brash, cross-dressing alter
ego, Madea.

It’s Tyler Perry’s second film this year to open at No. 1. In February, “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” debuted at the top spot with $41 million, which stands as the biggest opening of his eight films.

In one of his most satisfying films to date, Tyler Perry keeps the faith with his devoted audience, giving them his signature mash-up of heart-wrenching melodrama (there’s enough material here for a dozen Lifetime movies), outrageous comic relief, and soul-stirring spiritual uplift.

Adapted from his play of the same name, I Can Do Bad All by Myself stars Taraji P. Henson as April, another damaged Perry woman on the verge. She’s an alcoholic nightclub singer involved with a controlling married man and estranged from her mother and her church (despite the best efforts of a congregant portrayed by Gladys Knight). When her mother dies, April is forced to take in her dead crack-addict sister’s three children. She does not exactly put out the welcome mat.

Tyler Perry’s crowd-pleasing signature character, Madea, aka “the heavyweight champion of the world,” is mostly offscreen, but she makes the most of her scant screen time, serving up her own brand of old school discipline (“I promise you gonna come up missing,” she threatens one troubled teen who talks back to her) and values-added wisdom (“You get out of this life what you put into it”). Will April finally see the light, accept the Lord, and open her heart to the kids and the saintly (and handsome) Colombian immigrant handyman (Adam Rodriguez) who lives in her basement? Gladys Knight, Marvin Winans, and Mary J. Blige raise the roof with showstopping gospel and blues numbers that capture the fervor of a Tyler Perry theatrical experience.

Another Tyler Perry film not screened in advance for critics, another film that was No. 1 at the box office its opening weekend, I Can Do Bad All by Myself is further testimony that, for now, Tyler Perry can seemingly do no wrong. – Donald Liebenson