Just perfect...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Better Late Then Never

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

I have noticed that the new car smell has worn of Tyler Perry...at least in the minds of many people. I, for one, still enjoy most his work. And there were aspects of this film which I really like...and a few things I didn't.Let's start with the negatives. First. I don't see what Madea had to do with this film, and the insertion of her character for a few minutes seemed intrusive, unnecessary, and distracted from the film's story. I know a lot of people love the Madea character, but it had no place here. Second, a couple of characters seem to have rather drastic character changes during the course of the film, and while we all have our days, it seemed that these character changes were thrown in to make the film work. This is most obvious with Angela Bassett's character who goes from a fairly positive upbeat woman even when the chips are down, to a very bitter woman in regard to her love interest...and for no good reason.On the other hand, the basic story here is solid. A mother is working her hardest (literally) to raise her high school son and two younger daughters in Chicago. She loses her job, through no fault of her own, and falls upon really hard times...absolutely broke. At the same time she gets word that she should travel to Georgia to her father's funeral...a father she never met. With no options, but bus tickets for her and her children, she does so out of desperation. The family she never met welcomes her in, and as is typical with a Tyler Perry film, at least a couple of the family members are...well, let's say funnily odd. And, despite her protestations, a romance begins with basketball coach (who has his professional eye on Angela's high school son) who takes an instant liking to Angela's character. And that's where the film breaks down a bit for me -- the coach (played by Rick Fox) is under suspicion for most of the film...for no good reason.Angela Bassett is a darned good actress, and continues in that tradition here. In my view, it's director Tyler Perry who mismanages her character. Rick Fox, who is probably no great actor, is nonetheless pleasant here as the love interest, and you can buy into his character (and the remarkably white teeth). Lance Gross as the high school aged son is equally as pleasant, although it seems to me that there's a conflict between seeming to be the perfect son who briefly turns to drug dealing...again, I think Tyler Perry flubbed this characterization as writer and director. David Mann's character is too far over the top for me to feel right about his performance; this is not a real life character. I would say the same about Sofia Vergara's character. More and more I am liking Lamman Rucker, here a member of the Georgia family.I do think there are too many inconsistencies in characterizations in this film. Yet, I still enjoyed it. I guess you could say that this Tyler Perry effort seemed just a tad bit amateurish. But then again, this was one of his earlier efforts. I'll squeeze out a 6 here because several of the characters were quite appealing and the film had a good moral behind it.

This does have inconsistencies like a lot of Perry films, but this is one of Tyler Perry's best films. What I admired most about Meet the Browns is that it is genuine for the most part. Despite a shameless plug to promote Tyler Perry's next Madea film (Madea goes to Jail) with a chase sequence which spoofs O.J Simpson, and that it veers towards major melodrama in the second half (especially with Michael the son) I really enjoyed this movie. The problem in the past with Perry movies is that he fails to find the proper medium between melodramatic romance & comedy, but here he nailed it for the most part. Meet the Browns is all about family values, and being a good Mother. Angela Bassett is remarkably good as a struggling Mother, just looking to barely make it by every month, and make ends meet. Her relationship with her son Michael (Lance Gross) was real, and powerful. I really empathized with both of their plights. Sofía Vergara is a scene stealer every time she's on screen with her foul, bipolar character. She was a scream to watch, and provided many laughs for me. Jennifer Lewis (Vera) plays an insufferable drunk very well. Rick Fox is a tad bland at times as Bassett's love interest, but he does have a few great moments in the second half that really stood out. David Mann is OK as Mr. Brown, but he overdid it at times, and got on my nerves. I personally felt Sofia Vergara was much funnier. The ending was especially well done. It showed how karma is indeed legitimate. The Father (Phillip Edward Van Lear) Is a greedy gold digger, who gets what is coming to him by means of Karma at the end, after refusing to spend time with Michael, or pay the child support that is owed, despite making some pretty good coin as a construction worker. The message was delivered awesomely. Final Thoughts: This movie proves dreams can come true, and you don't have to be religious to enjoy it either. It's just a very heartwarming film that will brighten up your day. If you're looking for a good Tyler Perry film, this is a great selection. I really can't fathom as to why this movie is rated so low7.5/10

I literally could not sit still for the entire two hours of this movie because it was that bad. This movie was so cliché it was driving me crazy. The mom that can't make ends meet to the deadbeat dad that doesn't care about his son. I often wonder what hell would be like, I now imagine having to watch this movie over and over again. Don't waste your time on this movie, You'll want to sue Tyler perry for your money and time back. I honestly don't understand how anyone could even remotely like this movie. I thought the entire storyline and plot was very unimaginative and extremely predictable. The humor was stupid and immature and didn't even get a smile at me, more like a wtf? was that supposed to be funny? Seriously DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!

My theater that I work at got Meet the Browns, I have never ever seen a Tyler Perry movie, so this would be my first. But I didn't see it opening weekend and it took me a while to decide to see the movie, because of one thing, the rating on IMDb. Usually most of the ratings on the movies are pretty accurate. But when I finally decided to just go ahead and watch the movie, I have to say that I am very much disgusted with the rating here. I just don't understand why people are being so harsh with this movie, I felt like it was just a decent and uplifting film. I agree the stereotypes are bit much, but I've seen oh so much worse. Angela Bassett, who must of made a deal with the devil to look that good at 50, pulls in a great and heart felt performance as a mom who is just trying to do right by her kids despite the hard times she's facing.Brenda is a single mom in Chicago who is just struggling like crazy to take care of her three kids, trying to do the right thing, she looses her job, her electricity has been shut off, she's being judged by everyone, and the dad of her son just refuses to pay any child support what so ever. But when she finds out that her dad(who she never met) died, she and the kids go down to Georgia for the funeral, and she finds out that he gave her a house, which her family and a handsome family friend pull together to put her dreams back into place and to give her star basketball son a great future.Meet the Browns is just generally a good film, there are things that are a little off key, but it's all good. This film made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me remember how lucky I am to have family and friends who love me and how I love them as well. The ending is just such a relief and makes you think about the good things in life that make it worth living. I would recommend Meet the Browns, it's a fun film that I'm sure will make you feel good, please ignore the harsh rating, this is a totally misjudged film.6/10