Diary of a Mad Black Woman: Movie & DVD Review (2005)

(Originaly published 2005)

Adapted from Tyler Perry's stage play, this bizarre movie is many things--a celebration of Christian values, a drag act, a drug plunge, an urban slapstick comedy, a soap opera, a sitcom revenge fantasy.

You leave the film thinking, "What the hell was that?" and realize you may have just left hell itself. The film's mad black woman is Helen (Kimberly Elise), who is thrown out of her house by her husband of nearly 20 years when he falls for another woman.

Now homeless, Helen begins a diary, seeks to rebuild her life, and snags a new stud with good values along the way.

That's the trite base story. What surrounds it is an implausible blizzard.

Perry appears as three characters, including the crowd-pleasing, chainsaw-wielding Madea, who would feel right at home in "Big Momma's House" if she could fit through its doors. None of the film transcends the leap from stage to screen--you wince at its preachiness, blush at its broad strokes of romance, wish it would come off its high horse.

If director Darren Grant was trying to reach the cheap seats, he succeeded.

Grade: C-