5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Charles, an attorney, and Helen, the devoted wife, seem to have everything, money, a beautiful mansion - the American Dream. But just as Helen prepares to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary, her life takes a twist.
Starring: Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris (I), Tyler Perry, Shemar Moore, Lisa MarcosComedy | 100% |
Romance | 49% |
Melodrama | 5% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
When did Tyler Perry take over show business? Was there an article in Variety? Suddenly it’s next to impossible to visit a local cineplex or turn to the movie ad page in your local newspaper without being bombarded by a Perry product. Within just the last few years, a glut of Perry films has been released, often to astounding box office (and almost just as frequently to critical disdain). This is a one man acting-writing-directing-producing machine who seems to have limitless energy in bringing his ideas to a mass market audience. Perry is a man with his fingers quite obviously on the pulse of his largely African American audience, and it should go without saying that I am not exactly in that demographic, so my response to his films may not exactly be the touchstone of critical analysis, especially for those who share Perry’s ethnicity. But I’ve already slogged through two Perry films now, Why Did I Get Married Too? and, now, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and all I can say is Perry’s films so far have the same schizoid tendencies that he himself makes fun of with regard to his predilection to don lots of makeup, Eddie Murphy style, and become a host of different characters. While Married Too had a more or less coherent dramatic throughline, Diary of a Mad Black Woman is one of the oddest films in recent memory. Many of you probably saw the television trailer for the film, which featured Perry in his cross dressing getup as manic Grandma Medea, slicing and dicing her way through an elegantly plush couch with a chainsaw. Two things probably sprang to your mind when you saw that spot: 1) Medea was the mad black woman, and 2) Diary of a Mad Black Woman was going to be a rip-snorting, high energy farce. Nothing could be further than the truth. The mad black woman of the film’s title is actually Medea’s jilted granddaughter, Helen (Kimberly Elise), and while this film boomerangs back and forth with a wildly uneven tone, meaning, yes, there are elements of comedy here, it’s actually well nigh impossible to actually decipher what Perry’s real goal with this project was. For the first third or so of the film you would swear you’re watching a soap operatic deconstruction of the dysfunctional marriage between Helen and her super successful lawyer husband, Charles (Steve Harris), a Class A Cad of the worst order. But then a series of events brings Helen’s under Medea’s putative wing, and all hell breaks loose, tonally within the film and to the characters themselves, so that the audience doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or simply stop watching.
Diary of a Mad Black Woman makes its Blu-ray debut with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a decent enough looking transfer that never really rises to anything spectacular, mostly because there's really nothing very spectacular to see within the film itself. The establishing shots of Atlanta, and especially of Charles' and Helen's unbelievable mansion, look fantastic, with richly saturated color and some elegant fine detail in the furnishings, décor and Helen's ultra-fashionable wardrobe. The bulk of the film, though, is midrange and close-up shots, which have a reasonable amount of fine detail without really being overly impressive. This film hovers between being relatively soft, especially with regard to some interior shots, and then bursting into some much better sharpness in better lit, usually exterior, footage. The Blu-ray's superior resolution does point out Perry's make-up, especially with regard to the Joe character, where the latex is clearly visible.
Diary of a Mad Black Woman has a nice, if again a little less than spectacular, lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. Immersion and surround activity comes in dribs and drabs. An opening party scene has a great mix of background noise and wonderful cocktail music spilling into the surrounds while Elise's voiceover remains front and center (something that defines the soundfield of this film as a whole). A later block party at Medea's home similarly has some nice side and rear channel activity, punched up by some music. But this is largely a dialogue driven affair, with good to excellent fidelity but nothing—aside from the not infrequent shots from Medea's handgun—to really tax your home theater system. Those gunshots do erupt with some forceful LFE, so be ready. The final gospel sequence is great, and the DTS track supports the superlative vocals easily.
Get ready for Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry, and, lest we forget, Tyler Perry in the many supplements on this Blu-ray.
A certain segment of the populace evidently loves Perry, and especially his character Medea. I'm evidently not part of that segment. Perry's fans will no doubt want this film in their collections, others are advised to rent it first to see if Perry's odd combination of comedy and melodrama are their cup of tea.
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