...okay. So I didn't hate it! [Coming from me, that's a GLOWING review!] Don't get me wrong this movie wasn't "great" and didn't deserve the A- grade Entertainment Weekly gave it. It still features a shiteous wig/beard on the otherwise GORGEOUS Adam Rodriguez for a portion of the movie [who also used a terrible hispanic/colombian accent, but I chose to forgive him because he is beautiful]. It still featured the "Jesus can fix all your problems" predictable storylines...but the saving grace of this film is the incredible Taraji P. Henson. As one of my girlfriends would say: "The girl has TALENT."
Taraji P. Henson saves this film. She takes the little complexity that was on the page and turns it into a layered performance. She had me in tears multiple times throughout the film. Another positive, actress Hope Olaide Wilson, who plays Henson's niece in the film and has more than a "troubled" story. She, too, had the waterworks going for me. Both of these actresses made the movie more than it would have been otherwise.
A review from MSNBC says it best:
"Ultimately, for all the entertaining moments and committed performances — keep an eye on Hope Olaide Wilson, an intense young actress — we wind up with another Tyler Perry movie in which a wayward woman must learn to submit to two patriarchies: the nice blue-collar guy who’s going to solve her problems, and Jesus. If that formula works for you, so will “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” but if it doesn’t, wait for cable and just watch the singing."
In other positive Tyler Perry news, in the movie they showed a preview for a film coming out this winter entitled Precious: based on the novel "Push". It looks incredible!!!! You can see a preview of the film here. Tyler Perry and Oprah are producing the film which is garnering a lot of Oscar buzz for Mo'nique. I cannot wait to see it! So Kudos to Tyler Perry.
