It happens every year in cinema—without warning, totally unexpected, and turning the film industry on its head. The Sleeper: that film which industry prognosticators happily write off but eventually comes out of nowhere to score boffo box office. The Sixth Sense was The Sleeper of 2000. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was The Sleeper of 2002. Last year, Napoleon Dynamite and The Passion of the Christ shared the reins as The Sleeper.
This year, it’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
Despite its “shortcomings” (mediocre reviews, no A-list Hollywood stars, a $5.4 million budget, and a writer/producer who is unknown in Hollywood circles yet a household name within the African American community), this film has turned Hollywood upside down thanks to its spectacular #1 opening weekend gross of $22 million. Now, Tyler Perry, the aforementioned writer/producer (and arguably, the Star) of this film, is the toast of the town! Thanks to the success of this film, coupled with the Academy Award wins of Jamie Foxx and Morgan Freeman, February 27 will go down in history as a banner day for African American actors and filmmakers.
I’ll be honest… I wasn’t even planning to see the film until I saw those numbers and nearly fell out of my chair. I feared that the film would be just another low budgeted, low quality African American film that would earn an “A” for effort but a “D” in execution. I was wrong… happily wrong. Not only is the film well acted, honest, heartwarming and funny as heck, it also does not hesitate to point its audience toward a Heavenly direction.
Helen (Kimberly Elise) has a seemingly perfect life complete with the requisite big house, fancy car, and successful husband (Steve Harris). Her life comes crashing down on her 18th wedding anniversary when she comes home and finds a U-Haul truck packed with all of her stuff. Hubby comes home and drops the bombshell that he’s leaving her for a younger, sexier chick. She refuses to leave and hopelessly clings to the sofa for dear life. This desperate act forces her hubby to drag her across the floor and throw her out of the house they’ve built.
Shattered and humiliated, Helen runs to the only place she can: her wisecracking, gun-toting and precious Madea (writer/producer Tyler Perry-performing one of three roles in the film). The character Madea has a loyal following thanks to Perry’s plethora of Gospel Musical Plays where she is a regularly featured character that keeps the audience (both on stage and in this film) in stitches. She pulls no punches and tells it like it is. Behind the pistol popping and wisecracking, she gives Helen a hearty slice of unconditional love, much needed in light of Helen’s current situation. When she’s not cooking or threatening to whip out her pistol, Madea is often seen sparring with her brother Uncle Joe (role #2 by Perry), who is older than dirt and has an affinity for innuendo and reefer smoking!
Through the strength of Madea, the godly wisdom of her mother (played by the elegant and indestructible Cicely Tyson), and the legal counsel of her cousin Brian (role #3 by Perry), Helen gets back on her feet. Not only that, she gets a second chance at love at the hands of steel worker Orlando (Shemar Moore). Ironically it was he who witnessed the vicious act by Helen’s hubby… he was the mover assigned to pack and ship Helen’s stuff. Naturally, as movies go, Helen is resentful and suspicious toward Orlando’s motives at first, but he eventually wins her heart. His declaration of love for Helen is bound to make the ladies in the audience swoon! Even the sanctified, Christ-loving sisters in the audience will find themselves swooning when they hear Helen praising Orlando for his Christian beliefs. This isn’t just talk, ladies and gentlemen, it’s action: because of his faith in Christ, Orlando does not have sex with Helen during their courtship. Instead of having sex, they share something deeper: intimacy. In an age of American Pies, Eurotrips and countless other films that express a footloose attitude about sexuality, it’s extremely rare to see a film place purity and sexuality as values to be honored before God. That’s refreshing and challenging at the same time.
As Helen and Orlando’s bond grows deeper over the course of the film, he eventually pops the question and they go on to live happily ever aft ... not so fast! A series of unfortunate and tragic circumstances force Helen to confront her not-quite-ex-hubby and face the issues surrounding their broken marriage. The film pulls no punches in this approach. We see Helen go through stages of vulnerability, anger and rage. Through these events, the film takes us to places that few other films have taken us. Helen is brought to the point where she must rely on the power of God/Jesus Christ to not only forgive her husband, but herself as well.
Make no mistake about it. Diary of a Mad Black Woman is a Christian-oriented film, through and through. But what sets it apart from the Left Behinds and Omega Codes is its universality. Much like Woman Thou Art Loosed (another Christian-oriented film starring Elise in the title role), it’s a message that hits us on every level whether we’re faithful churchgoers or regular Joes/Josephines working eight hours a day. It’s ultimately a film about healing, faith, trust and forgiveness… principles that transcend one’s religious beliefs. The film without hesitation points to God/Jesus as the answer. But it’s not a forced and preachy message. No one is threatened with the fires and eternal damnation of Hell. Instead the characters are continuously being gently encouraged to look for God as well as to God and, particularly in the climax of the film, allow Him to heal, change, and restore their lives. But, in the midst of that, the film’s finale takes us to a place that’s steeped in honesty and reality that made me appreciate the film even more.
At the time of this review, Roger Ebert has found himself the object of major scrutiny from some (not all) members of the African American community because he gave the film "thumbs down-way down". The issue that sunk the film for him was the portrayal of Madea. He felt that her presence sabotaged the message of the film. From my P.O.V., Ebert's opinion on how African American grandmothers are to be portrayed stems from him watching "Soul Food" and other films of that nature (since he mentioned the actress who played the grandma in that film). According to his review of this and countless other African-American films, the typical African American grandmother is supposed to be "sympathetic and caring", with pearls of wisdom hidden underneath their kitchen aprons. My grandma (R.I.P.) definitely fit that category. However, there are a quite a few grandmas who are just as spunky, loud and opinionated as Madea. They offer pearls of wisdom as well...but said wisdom falls under the uncut, uncensored, "tell it like it is" category! Having seen my fair share of those types of grandmas as well, I have no beef with the character. In fact, Madea had me ROFTL throughout the whole movie.
Grab your friends, your parents, and your grandparents and see what’s got Hollywood turned on its ear! See the brilliant performances by Kimberly Elise, Shemar Moore and, especially, Tyler Perry as Madea! Let the message encourage and enrich your soul… and let Madea tickle your funny bone. Hilarious, inspirational, and worth every box office dollar it’s earned, Diary of a Mad Black Woman is the first Sleeper hit of 2004!
Review continued on Chris' blog -here
