SCREEN

DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN

T.R. Witcher













DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN(PG-13)

(2 stars)


Stars: Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Shemar Moore, Tyler Perry


Director: Darren Grant


Details: Opens Friday



The mad black woman of the title is Helen McCarter (Kimberly Elise), suffering in a marriage to slick Atlanta lawyer and shameless jerk Charlie ... until he tosses her out.


With nothing left but a U-Haul of swanky clothes, she retreats home to her larger-than-life grandma Madea (played with gusto by the film's writer and producer, Tyler Perry). As Helen puts her life back together, the usual tropes are hit: She reunites with her estranged family, learns to stand on her own, and strikes up a relationship with sensitive steelworker hunk Orlando (a winning Shemar Moore).


Perry has made a fortune off middlebrow plays geared toward black audiences. His formula here is romance, sentimental melodrama and some hit-and-miss Big Mama-style laughs. Underneath is a mildly engaging Christian fable about forgiveness. I don't know how the superbly skilled Elise got roped into this, but hopefully her next part will make better use of her dramatic intensity. The film is harmless enough. To call it clichéd is—though tempting—to miss the point.




T.R. Witcher


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