I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2009)

I see many of the comments on here are "this is Tyler Perry's best film ever." That's pretty much like saying the Yugo was best Serbian-built car ever.

Tyler Perry can't write. He tends to choose actors who can't act. He just keeps re-writing the same basic, tired, stereotyped characters and puts them in virtually the same tired plots over and over. But he apparently knows his demographic, because the same folks will run out and plunk down $10 to see this crappy, sappy mess.

It works for him, so I'm sure there will be another Madea movie within 18 months.

Fmovies: The person who called this drivel never saw the film, guaranteed. The actors in this film are stunning, and the story is touching and real. Oscar nominated Taraji P. Henson not only carries the dramatic arc of the main character's transformation, she also kicks butt in her singing performance as self-centered club singer April. Mary J. Blige and Gladys Knight and Marvin Winans all deliver the goods in their acting and then blow the roof off with their singing performances.

And Hope Olaide Wilson's performance as 16 year old toughie Jennifer is simply remarkable. You can't quite grasp how remarkable it is until you watch an interview with her off camera and realize how completely and totally her character was invented. Totally convincing as the unwanted daughter of an American crack addict, with a nasty-ass inner city attitude and a volcano of anger inside, it's mind boggling to find out afterwards she is a luminous, joyful young woman who was classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and who naturally speaks with a lilting British accent. I will take bets on this... you will see her accepting an Academy Award one day. Absolutely brilliant. Like Meryl Streep / Kate Blanchett / Nicole Kidman

There are 6 full musical performances in this film, by Henson, Blige, Knight, and Winans, and they are better integrated into the story, more organically placed and more suited to the story than in any film I can recall. So it's not a "musical" per se, but a drama with humor and musical performances incorporated. And it works well.

I had never seen a "Madea" film before, nor anything of Tyler Perry's. To be honest, if I had known Madea was in the film I might have missed this gem, because I probably would not have watched it. I'm not into genre films or drag queen humor. I watched it because of the cast list. But although Madea appears in the film, it's as a supporting character. Fortunately. Because the Madea scenes are the weakest overall, and kind of rubbed me the wrong way in the context of the more naturalistic style of the rest of the film. Still, even Shakespeare used buffoonish clowns at various times to move the action along, so I think we can forgive Tyler Perry for boosting the box office appeal with a proved draw.

So I would not call this a Madea movie, nor would I label it an African American movie. Those labels are deceptively limiting. It's much bigger than you might expect. It is a very effective and entertaining drama (with music and comedy) that touches deeply on the human condition, and affirms the transformative power of love... both romantic and spiritual love. And it deserves a wider audience. And better reviews than someone who hasn't actually seen the film would give it.

First off it is a well known fact that Tyler Perry is a man of faith, and he stays true to that in the majority of his films. So when watching a movie and taking the time to critique it for others, is it fair to the population looking for advice on whether this movie is worth a watch or not to critique it from a biased standpoint? I absolutely do not, so in effort to be non- biased and neutral on the morals I choose to rate this movie based on what it should be rated on, the quality of the film.

All the actors in this movie had at least one moment worth mentioning (especially Henson)! Sure not every moment was incredible or Oscar worthy, but how many movies have you watched that received a 3.8 rating can you say...all actors had at least one moment of solid acting. None in my opinion.

This film revolves and thrives off of real life issues when living in inner city. Now if you have never experienced, or know little of, you may automatically under appreciated this film. What many people saw in this film as cliché were really moments Perry attempted to address those real life issues. Most movies you watch today are 2 hours of meaningless entertainment offering nothing more then a way to shut off your mind from life and leave the theater dumber then when you came it (not that that's not fun once in awhile). But what makes those films better then a film like this? Boldly Perry offers an acceptable mixture of heart, emotion, humor, and real life.

If your not interested in movies about life that will attempt to tug at your heart, without fear of showing the real side of an underprivileged and abusive life, then you will enjoy this film. If you prefer movies with meaningless entertainment, or humor then avoid this film.

I Can Do Bad All by Myself fmovies. I think that this movie gives some really good insights into the dynamics of some dysfunctional families, especially when they don't have much money and there's sexual and child abuse involved. That often makes it hard for people to watch: whether they've never been a victim and don't believe that it really happens like that or whether they have been a victim and remember how it feels. I thought this was a really great story. The music was great and fit into the story line really well. And the vocalists, the musicians, etc. were excellent. (I'd love to have some info on the choir at the church.) The Medea scenes add a little comic relief although they don't really add all that much to the story.

All of those involved deserved the awards that they got and more. We just got a new TV with direct TV and netflix and my brother in law and I are looking up every single Tyler Perry movie I can find. T. P. tells it like it all too often is. And, btw, I love Medea. She's a hoot. Hope Tyler Perry keeps making movies - comedies and movies like this that aren't really comic but have a bit of comic relief.

I don't have any idea why so many people don't like his movies. After seeing how much of a success they are in the box office I don't understand how they can get so low after that. Well now I'm giving it my review and in a word the movie is great.

In this new installment of Tyler Perry's film making career we see how Madea meets these kids who breaks into her house and now must take them to their aunt April who is an alcoholic singer at a night club (I know, there's a problem with that alone). So when Madea takes these kids over to their aunts place things start changing. The pastor at the church in April's neighborhood sends an immigrant to live with her in exchange for fixing up her place. Thanks to all of these people who surround themselves around her, April starts to realize that there is more to life than sleeping and drinking. She might even realize that her life is worth living.

This is probably one Tyler Perry's best films. It has great music, nice comedy, and entertaining drama. Definitely a great film to watch anytime and anywhere.

I am a masochist. That is why I am trying to see all the movies from Harry Medved's book "The 50 Worst Films of All Time" as well as all of the Bottom 100 from IMDb. Masochism is the only thing that would explain it. However, in my strange quest to see the best of the worst, I have occasionally run across some films that seem to have been included in the lists and you can't understand why. This is the case with I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF. Why is this film so hated that it made this IMDb list? To quote Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, "Where is the love?".

Now I am NOT saying that this is a perfect film--there are two major problems that negatively impact this film. But, the film has so many wonderful moments--so much good acting and excellent writing that I am just baffled at the negative reviews. Let's talk about the two main problems. Tyler Perry apparently plays the comedic Madea character in all his films. However here, this character seems amazingly out of place in this ultra-serious drama. A little less Madea would have helped the film maintain a tighter focus. The second problem is that while the singing was all very high quality, there just seemed to be too much. Less singing and less Madea would have left more time for character development.

What I really liked, though was the great story--at least once you got to it. Three kids are caught stealing in Madea's home. You soon learn that they are doing this because they are hungry. Their grandmother (who they live with) has disappeared and they chose a stupid way to deal with this. Madea takes pity on them--feeding them and taking them to their Aunt's house. The problem, however, is that the Aunt is a total mess--and one of the most selfish characters you've ever seen. Can all this work out successfully? Of course--that's a given. However, it's all handled very well and this one will most likely get you shedding some tears--so have some Kleenex handy. The acting was superb and the story very involving.

Overall, a wonderful film that could have been more wonderful. Still, it's well worth seeing and is a good film for older kids--even if the language is sometimes rough and there is a brief (but appropriate) nude scene. This is because the message is awfully good--though I could imagine some finding it all a bit heavy-handed (I know I didn't).

By the way, I am a middle-aged White guy. Tyler Perry movies are apparently NOT just for African-American audiences!