Tag Archives: Tyler Perry

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Appointed Rounds

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The Six Triple Eight

by George Wolf

“Where there is no mail there is low morale.”

For a time during the height of WWII, there was no mail. Battalion 6888 – the only all-black outfit in the Women’s Army Corp to see overseas duty – was given six months to sort through a backlog of 17 million letters between soldiers and their loved ones back home.

If they succeeded, the women would restore hope to families and morale to the troops. If they didn’t, bigots throughout the military would use the failure as proof of inferiority.

Netflix’s The Six Triple Eight tells a lesser-known story of unsung heroes who deserve the acclaim, but the best intentions of writer/director Tyler Perry are often hamstrung by his broad brush and heavy-handed approach to telling it.

Our window into history is Lena Derriecott (Emily Obsidian of TV’s Sistas), who enlists after her high school love Abram (Gregg Sulkin) is shot down and killed in action. Captain (later Major) Charity Adams (Kerry Washington) whips Lena and the rest of the women into shape, and longs for marching orders that her superiors have no intention of providing.

But when President Roosevelt (Sam Waterston), First Lady Eleanor (Susan Sarandon) and National Council of Negro Women founder Mary McLeod Bethune (Oprah Winfrey) learn of the interruption of mail service, openly racist officers such as General Halt (Dean Norris) have to begrudgingly deploy the 6888th.

Perry adapts Kevin Hymel’s 2019 article “Fighting a Two-Front War” with a well-deserved respect for the mission, but a lack of depth that often reduces the timelines to little beyond sanitized set pieces and expositionary dialog. The ensemble consistently over-emotes, while even reliable talents such as Washington and Norris seem coached to push the dramatics and facial reactions.

The history lesson here – which includes the Army’s attempt to sabotage the 6888th – doesn’t need that hard sell. What these women accomplished was truly heroic, and Perry works best when he’s letting us in on the meticulous methods they found to connect the more hard-to-decipher addresses with their rightful owners.

Even the finale – when we get the expected (and welcome) archival footage featuring the real women involved – comes equipped with an extended retelling of the plot points we just watched unfold. From start to finish, The Six Triple Eight seems engineered for the distracted attentions of streaming audiences. So while the film’s limited theatrical run is appreciated, it also feels a bit outside the post code.

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Death Bemuses Her

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A Madea Family Funeral

by George Wolf

So far, Madea has plowed through a family reunion, a wedding, jail, witness protection, a Christmas and at least two Halloweens. You knew the time would come when she crashed a funeral.

That time is now.

Writer/director/star Tyler Perry is back for round number eight with Madea and her crazy crew, many of whom are also played by Perry. This time, everyone has gathered for a surprise anniversary party, but surprise!, one family member turns up dead, meaning a funeral is now in order.

Who can they all turn to for funeral planning at a moment’s notice?

You can bet the service will carry some surprises of its own, especially with so many secrets just waiting to be spilled. Some family members are carrying on with other significant others (What? In a Tyler Perry movie?), and some people just can’t be trusted to keep quiet.

We’re eight movies into this formula, so don’t expect any big changes. The focus isn’t storytelling, character development, or humor that carries any thread of organic authenticity. What’s important is getting Perry’s different characters into convoluted situations where they can talk smack to each other.

That mission is accomplished early and often.

Expect plenty of “Hush up!”‘s and smacks in the face while the supporting characters stand around like good-looking mannequins that keep repeating “You okay?” to each other.

Perry does manage a genuine laugh or two (mainly from his “Joe” and “Heathrow” characters) among the painful shenanigans, but the best thing about this Madea is that there are so many that have come before.

She clearly has found an audience. If you’re part of it, A Madea Family Funeral will deliver just what you’re expecting.

If you’re not, there’s little reason to join the family now.

 

 





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She Said She Said

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Tyler Perry’s Acrimony

by George Wolf

Acrimony begins with an on-screen definition of the word “acrimony.” That’s how much credit writer/director/producer Tyler Perry gives his audience.

He doesn’t treat his lead much better, again creating a strong female character who must receive her comeuppance.

She is Melinda (Taraji P. Henson), who’s under court-ordered anger management after harassing her ex-husband Robert (Lyriq Bent) and his new fiancee (Crystie Stewart). As Melinda tells her therapist why her anger is justified, she tells us, too, and just keeps on telling.

Flashbacks give us the Melinda and Robert story, while constant voiceovers spoon-feed us enough information to qualify as an audiobook. The organic dialogue offers no more nuance (cell phone rings once: “He isn’t picking up!”)

It’s contrived and obvious at nearly every turn, and though Henson delivers her usual spunk, Perry’s penchant for demonizing women who don’t stand by their men is on display. The hand he plays for the film’s finale smacks of a cop out, a “get out of jail free card” for how he’s written Melinda’s character.

That card gets trumped, and the final showdown fizzles into borderline camp. It’s a fitting end to a mess of a movie.