The Family That Preys (2008)

Another film filled with secrets and surprises. Good set-up of plot and characters, if a bit predictable. Writer, director, producer, actor Tyler Perry (best known for his "Big Momma" franchise) goes for a bittersweet comedy-drama that delivers well. We were quite satisfied with the story and filming. A lot of restraint (no one swears in the film, for example) and non-preachy religious themes. We sat through the credits. Great song sung by Gladys Knight. Woodard's arc is grand. Definitely recommended. Perry is evolving well in his milieu as his empire grows. A fun update of Southern Gothic genre and good performances all round, save for Taraji P. Henson, who is all tics and gestures. Surprised at the IMDb fan-base low rating ( <3/10 ). Perry is a natural to bring our "Hayes Hotel" musical to the big screen or Atlanta and Broadway! - Frederic Kahler

Fmovies: I still to this very day do not understand why people continue to give Tyler Perry a free ride. His "body of work" sucks!! Let's see...I'll play a big fat, loud, obnoxious, uneducated, overbearing, stereotypical Black woman. And because Tyler does it, it's okay. But God forbid if a white director/screenwriter did it, he'd be IMMEDIATELY skewered. What else...oh yeah...House of Payne?!?!? Really?!?!? Could there be a sh*ttier show??? I am so sick of my brethren (yes...I'm Black) b**ching about why "we" all don't back Tyler.

I don't care if you're Asian, Black, White, Indian (dot and feather), or whatever. If your stuff stinks, it stinks!!! Period.

Tyler Perry's back to his old tricks with The Family That Preys - A film that is just as manipulative and as ham-fisted of a melodrama as some of his earlier work. The only saving grace are a pair of performances at the center.

Those performances come from Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard. They play the matriarchs of two very different families who have been friends for the past 30 years. Their characters come from very different worlds. Bates plays Charlotte Cartwright, a wealthy tycoon who is in danger of losing control of her company as her greedy son William (Cole Hauser) plots to slowly get rid of her influence and power in the business. Woodard plays Alice Pratt, a God-fearing middle class woman who runs a local diner, and likes to help the homeless on the side. The two actresses have great chemistry together during their subplot, which concerns them leaving their troubles behind for a little while, and going on a cross country road trip. Their performances are almost enough to make us forget just how poorly they've been written in Perry's screenplay. Take for example the fact that Charlotte seems to suffer from a split personality. Usually when she's around Alice, she's a fun and spirited woman. But whenever she's alone, she comes across as a cold and unfeeling millionaire right out of an 80s prime time soap opera like Dallas. Unfortunately, this won't be the last time I use the word soap opera in this review.

That's because The Family That Preys isn't really about the two women I just mentioned, it's about their intertwined family, and the numerous betrayals, affairs, and other ludicrous overstuffed plots that would be right at home in any afternoon soap. Let's just see how many plots there are. The first concerns Alice's daughter, Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) having an affair with Charlotte's previously mentioned son, William. Andrea's husband, Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), works as a construction worker for William's company, and has no idea about their bedroom meetings behind his back, even though it's painfully obvious to everyone else. Poor Chris comes across as the slowest guy in the world, as he frequently stares the obvious in the face, and chooses to look the other way until the screenplay decides to finally give him a clue. Chris and his best friend on the construction crew, Ben (Tyler Perry), want to start their own construction company, but Ben doesn't know if they should take the chance, despite the urgings of his wife, Pam (Taraji P. Henson), who just happens to be Alice's other daughter. Meanwhile, William's wife, Jillian (KaDee Strickland) is a bit more on the ball than Chris is, and suspects her husband's affair. Not only that, there's another woman worked into the story named Abby (Robin Givens) who has just been hired to the company by Charlotte, much to the anger of William, since he wanted the position and is upset that his mom didn't give it to him.

All this, and I still haven't mentioned the mysterious homeless person (Sebastian Siegel) whom Alice helps out, and eventually ends up playing a part in the plot. There's also friction between Charlotte and William's wife, because Charlotte never approved of her, although the movie doesn't go very deep into this. And yes, there's also that previously mentioned road trip between Charlotte and Alice as they go on a trip of self discovery, while stopping at various cowboy bars and male strip joints along the way. (Because this is a Tyler Perry m

The Family That Preys fmovies. This movie has a perfect balance between humor and drama to keep you glued to your screen, delivered by a committed cast under appropriately paced direction. I find it hard to explain or understand why it has such a hash rating. I can only conclude that reviewers say the cover, perhaps the direct/ writer and decided that they have enough information to make a calling. Any unfortunate prejudgment that may end up denying quality drama lovers a pointer to what is nothing short of a great drama they may want to watch over and over again and share with friends and family. But please do not simply read the reviews or even take my word for it, see it for yourself and make up your mind.

OK, I've read all the other reviews, to date, and I have to agree with those who had a positive experience. I'm a 62 year old gay white male, and I gave this movie an 8/10. I am not an unreserved fan of Tyler Perry, and think some of the Madea sub-plots are pretty ugly. That said, I have watched nearly everything he's done, enjoyed most, and feel that this one is the best I've seen. The plot(s) were not difficult to follow, or swallow, and the entire cast was perfect, not a bad actor among them. As expected, Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates were truly excellent in their roles. These gals have been doing this, and doing it well, for a long time, and are perfect together. If they aren't long time friends off-camera, they surely fooled me.

For some reason, I think that people, their sickening racial prejudices or whatever have influenced a lot of the votes on Tyler Perry's work.

I've worked in independent film and am a writer and honestly, just discovered his work and have watched four or five of his films this week and I really think some jealousy for a young talented black man is going on because none of these films have reached the level of the garbage that usually elicits these number through these pages.

Not all his stuff is meant to be taken seriously, but this work for example is and has a great ensemble cast and it worked beautifully.

I don't understand the vote, but this was well done, technically perfect, and tender and ruthless and quite perfect in this film maker's views.

Bravo Tyler...keep 'em coming.

One thing that made me avoid these is they always emblazoned everything Tyler, but he deserves some credit...and the likes of Bates and Woodward, these guys are academy award winning and level actresses. They don't just work with anybody.

He wrote it. He produced it. He directed it. He played a bit part. What do you want to give the man no credit as if he had nothing to do with the film?

His stage plays have done over $75 million in sales across America and didn't need some gimmick like Cats, and this is a self made man basically. He wasn't born with some silver spoon in his mouth and eventually, as he does more drama, he's going to get an Academy Award in his life time at this rate.