As the saying goes, all good things must come to an
end. Such is the case of Tyler Perry’s
beloved character Mabel “Madea” Simmons.
After 20 years, Perry has decided to hang up his size 12 heels and wig,
letting the character go not so gently into that good night. The only question is, will Perry bring the
curtain down on a high or sour note?
I went into this film hoping for an elevated experience from
the last Madea outing I watched: Boo! A Madea Halloween (I haven’t bothered to
see the sequel). Initially, as far as I’m
concerned, A Madea Family Funeral was on track to follow in the same footsteps
as Boo!. While there were people cracking up in the audience around me, I feel
the film has a slow, uneven start with a few amusing/light chuckles as you wait
for something to happen. Thankfully,
unlike Boo!, Funeral doesn’t take two thirds of the film to get cracking. About fifteen minutes in starting with the
traffic stop scene, Funeral starts to find its footing. By the waiting room sequence, Perry and
company are firing on all cylinders.
The physical comedy, especially with Madea and her friends
is solid comedic gold. The verbal
sparring/comedy is a bit more hit and miss, definitely favoring the hit side of
things. The extended family the film
centers around fall on the generic side and aren’t overly developed but are serviceable
within the story. The lack of character
development stunts the film emotionally until the end of the film when Madea
sets the family straight with her no holds barred come to Jesus straight talk,
and the hard hitting, surprising revelation by Jen Harper’s Vianne. More than making up for the superficial
emotional tone of the rest of the movie.
A Madea Family Funeral is at its best when focused on Bam, Hattie, and
the four (yes four) characters inhabited by Perry: Brian, Joe, Heathrow (a newly
seen, raunchy brother) and of course Madea.
While not as tightly scripted or strong storyline as earlier
films featuring Madea, A Madea Family Funeral overall is widely entertaining,
funny, and a pretty fitting last hurrah for Mabel Simmons. A Madea Family Funeral ends(?) the
franchise/character with less of a resounding bang, more of a hearty pop and thankfully
not a fizzle. This one’s a 7.
Be sure to stay put for the first couple of
minutes of credits as there are some choice outtakes.
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