Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I stumbled upon this film playing on Showtime and found it to be so riddled with stereotypes that it's hard to watch. 'Diary of a Tired Black Man' is a low-budget, hybrid drama/documentary, which apparently sets out to present and answer the question of why black women and men are incompatible.The film is not a technically beautiful one, but I'm a huge independent film fan, so I can live with the flaws. The single greatest problem with this film is that it took a subject matter ripe with possibility (an intimate look at Black Relationships in America) and turned it into a lopsided tirade against half of its subject matter--black women--which does the film its greatest disservice.In between interviews with an assortment of people across America (this film would've fared better solely as a documentary) , the filmmaker interjects staged, dramatic moments surrounding the diary of a 'Tired Black Man,' Jimmy Jean Louis. The badly-written scenes, which are apparently designed to help audiences understand why this particular black man is 'tired,' only highlight the lead's poor choice in a high-maintenance, gorgeous but self-absorbed, airhead. This is a mistake that American men of all races have made, nothing race-based or shocking here, but the laborious scenes, interspersed with the interviews, gives the film a disjointedness that's exhausting to watch. Even Jimmy Jean Louis looks like he'd rather be elsewhere.With the 'Tired Black Man's' diary writing as its basis, the film seeks to validate nearly two hours of raced-based drivel, without really getting to the heart of the matter: People are ultimately people. Men will be men and women will be women. To single-out universal, relationship issues as a stereotypically 'black problem' is just, well... 'Tired.'Don't believe the 10 star reviews here written in the same voice. It's truly an abuse of IMDb and an insult to film-making.

Mr. Alexander's independent film, "Diary of a Tired Black Man" should be required viewing for anyone who might want to improve their current relationships or get insight into things that might improve future ones. Ostensibly, it is about black relationships but when you view it, it will be evident how universally applicable the concepts are. Be warned! This is a film done without the backing of any Hollywood studio whatsoever and realized only through the tenacious efforts of its director as well as actors and actresses who felt the subject matter was vitally important. As such, some of the scenes may come across as a bit raw, but no more so than the early efforts of a Spike Lee in his films "...Bed-Stuy Barbershop" or "She's Gotta Have It". What is important is the message gets through loud and clear and what a message it is! I will not go into specifics, but when the trailers and publicity describe this as a man's answer to films like "Waiting To Exhale" and some Tyler Perry offerings, they are not overstating things. If you are a woman or man who believes the "conversation" on relationships in general and black relationships in particular have been too one-sided, too slanted solely toward male vilification, then this film is a resounding and profound counterpoint. Run, don't walk, to your nearest store to get this. Buy multiple copies because as you view it, I promise you will think of someone in your life that needs to see it. Before I go I need to say something else. It never ceases to amaze me how most detractors from the film try to attack some of the filmed scenes. Here's my reply. Go rent a copy of "El Mariachi" the first film by Robert Rodriguez. It is a great film . . .but the acting is not done by Oscar caliber thespians. As a matter of fact, the leads in DOATBM, Jimmie Jean-Louis and Paula Lema, are actually (in my opinion) much better in their film than the freshman-like actors in Robert's. But even if my opinion would not be universally shared, I find this tactic of going after the actors- and after a film obviously shot with a limited budget (read: absolutely no $)- to be a cop out. It is a way of avoiding the true strength of the film, which is, of course, the feedback given by the men and women in the documentary parts. I believe one reviewing critic had it pegged correctly. To paraphrase: The filmed vignettes serve merely to ask questions; it's the feedback that supply the viewpoints that are the heart of Mr. Alexander's opus. But naysayers virtually all to a man and woman avoid comment on these parts and for good reason- it is hard to criticize truth. Not that everyone commenting is correct, but their replies are largely their honest opinion. And this is conveyed so well in Tim's film that in the final analysis their testimony becomes unassailable. My advice to those who want to pan the film. Try going after the essential truths presented not just by the filmed scenes, but by the back and forth commentary of the men and women in the street. If you can attack and deny their truth, then your gripes about Tim's film might have some merit. But if you cannot- and I suspect this is something that will be beyond most- then you need to watch the film again and ask yourself honestly exactly what about it is truly making you uncomfortable . . .then start your own healing process.

This movie could have addressed the issues in black relationships in a meaningful way. Instead it presented the same old Sapphire caricature accompanied by bad acting and worse writing. The premise is a relationship between a perfect black man, James, who is constantly abused by his irrationally angry wife, Tonya. There are several short scenes that can be summed up with black man = good; black woman = angry. Foiling this perfect male character against a dramatically flawed woman combined with the unrealistic scenarios and terrible acting makes this so called docudrama feel completely unrealistic. But then an attempt is made to relate these far fetched scenarios to the real world by interviewing some black men, who likely have little in common with the handsome, financially prosperous and near perfect James. Of course these men claim that black women are angry.The black community has low rates of marriage. Most of the men interviewed were no doubt complaining about women that they hadn't bothered to marry despite having children together, or women who have all of the burdens of being a wife with none of the benefits. Most black women do not have the opportunity to be stay home wives and mothers with high earning husbands who live in nice neighborhoods. They are instead dealing with men who suffer from high rates of unemployment, who earn low incomes on average and who often insist that women handle most of the housework and child care despite working full time jobs to support the family. Anger in this context takes on an entirely different meaning.Instead of addressing the reality of many black people's situations in this country this movie tried to apply a situation in which a woman has no reason to be angry to the many women who are experiencing the normal human emotion of anger with good reason. The result is an insulting caricature, a strawman argument for the problems with black relationships, and the waste of a great opportunity to explore the issues in those relationships with any depth. The filmmaker simply scapegoated black women and repackaged the Sapphire caricature that dates back to minstrel shows of the past.

It is because the film is highly rated with real people (its intended audience) and not professional film snobs like most of the people who rate films here. It is not a movie for critics, but a message to real people - most of which do not review films here. You will need to see it for yourself. Most of the real world reviews are positive because real people like the film. But I do have bad reviews as well from people who missed the film's true intent - and that was not to be a Hollywood or a textbook climatic film - but a deep cutting message. And that I accomplished as evident by the numerous positive reviews. Thanks for pointing that out. I hope I cleared it up.