A Madea Christmas (2013)

Crappy film

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It may be somewhat by design that I'm a little late to the cult of Tyler Perry and by extension to the mysteriously popular fatuous imbecile that inspires him to put on a dress and a grey wig. Either you get on board with this Madea character or you don't. Personally, I don't. I find the character irritating; an outdated stereotype that sets the course of African-Americans back at least three quarters of a century. I know it sounds like I'm being a stick in the mud, but seriously, every time I see this character I feel the need to be anywhere else. She's annoying, a filter-less motor-mouthed battle-axe somewhere in her 70s who perpetually dresses in muumuus and spouts ignorance one minute and biblical platitudes the next.Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas is my second exposure to this character after the bizarrely ham-fisted I Can Do Bad All By Myself. Both films, to be honest, are a chore to sit through if you aren't in love with Perry's alter ego. While Christmas is slightly better than the previous film, but that's basically comparing ointment to suppository – take a look at my rating. What comes to light in this film, and in last year's laughably clumsy melodrama Tyler Perry's Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor is how inept Perry is as a filmmaker.I'm not kidding, A Madea Christmas is so badly shot and so poorly edited that for a time I wondered if I was watching a rough cut of the film. There are moments when characters move out of the frame and the cameraman doesn't know what to do, so he simply zooms in on the actor left on the screen. There are moments during dialogue scenes that the camera focuses on a character who isn't talking and clearly the actor doesn't know he/she is being filmed. There are scenes and dialogue that simply stop as if the actors are signaling for another take.Not that the story of Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas would have been any better with improved production values. This is a moronic film. It opens with an insufferable comic set-piece that finds Madea working with her great-niece Eileen (Anna-Maria Horsford) in a department store dressed as Santa Claus. I could say that shenanigans ensue except that while the idea of having Madea work customer service would seem to be a perfect comic opportunity for the character, the scene lasts five minutes before she is abruptly dismissed for opening her big mouth.That idea dropped, the plot quickly moves to a country town where Madea travels with Eileen to visit her daughter. Her daughter Lacey (Tika Sumpter) doesn't want her mother to visit for Christmas because she's hiding the fact that she's engaged to a white man named Connor (Eric Lively). Ho HO! What could come of that is developed in a really offensive subplot in which Eileen becomes convinced that Lacey's fiancé and her parents (Kathy Najimy and Larry the Cable Guy) are members of the Klan. Why? Well, she walked in on her parents while the father had a bedsheet over his head. Yeah! It's also so we can have a lot of speechifying about race relations and getting along, which Tyler Perry delivers in every move with a sledge hammer.The rest of the plot involves the town, a farming community, that has hit hard times ever since a dam was built by an evil and thoughtless corporation. They're main struggle in the movie is to have an annual jubilee that somehow will keep the town from going under financially. I'm not exactly sure how the jubilee is suppose to help, or why the farmers are harvesting their crops in December. I'm also not sure why Tanner (Chad Michael Murray), one of the neighboring farmers who lives close to Connor, insist that he not grow corn since he himself grows corn despite the fact that Connor has developed a way to grow corn without water. I may not know so much about farming, but I never thought it was a problem for two farmers to grow the same crop.This is an illustration of a long list of things that – based on the films he makes – that he doesn't know about. In I Can Do Bad All By Myself, it becomes clear that he has a misunderstanding of how not only AA works but how child protective services works. In Temptation, it becomes clear that he has a misunderstanding of how the business world works and how therapy works. Here, it becomes clear that he has a misunderstanding of how agriculture works and how small local governments work. I don't know if it's just him if he thinks his audience won't notice. Rarely have I ever seen a filmmaker who has less respect for his audience's basic understanding of the world.

Basically if your a fan of Madea then you will love this movie. I thought it was absolutely hilarious! One of the best Madea movies Tyler Perry has done! All of the characters in the movie bring their own sense of comedy (and of course drama). The storyline is great and I was really entertained the whole length of the movie, not bored once. There were people of all ages in the theater and everyone was laughing through the movie. I highly recommend this movie to all Madea fans/Tyler Perry fans and really even if you have never seen a Madea movie then I still suggest you go see it. You surely wont regret it. I would actually go see it a second time in the movie theaters it was so good.

Tyler Perry is a very interesting person. He gives Tommy Wiseau a run for his money. In pretty much all his movies, there is random sub-plot drama that I love to make fun of. There is always some woman in an abusive relationship or trying to better herself, up to a family member slowly dying from a disease. Personally, I just wish he'd stick directly on the Madea character. She's the main star that everyone wants to see. That's what was great about her last outing, Witness Protection. It was basically focused on her and dealing with Eugene Levy's family. A Madea Christmas kinda returns to the basics with a little family drama, but not overkill. It was the right amount of drama and the right amount of Madea. It's filled with good comedy, cheesy but funny one- liners, good messages, and should hopefully put you in the Christmas spirit. Madea is working part-time at a department store for the holidays with her friend, Eileen. Eileen is depressed because her daughter, Lacey won't be able to make it home for Christmas. Eileen asks a reluctant Madea to help drive her out to Alabama to Lacey's for Christmas. Lacey is startled because she has not told her mom that she has married a white man named Conner. Lacey soon has to deal with in-laws, keeping secrets from her mom and trying to get the Christmas Jubilee to keep its religious tone. If you love Madea and Christmas movies, I highly recommend A MADEA Christmas!!!

When she finds out her daughter Lacey (Tika Sumpter) isn't coming home for Christmas, Eileen (Anna Maria Horsford), plans a surprise visit, but not before convincing the tough-as-nails Madea (Tyler Perry) to join her. The two women then hit the road for Alabama. Upon arriving, the find that Lacey is now living with a white country boy named Conner (Eric Lively), it isn't too long after that word of Conner's parents (Larry the Cable Guy and Kathy Najimy) are arriving for the holidays as well. Along with the worries of these two families meeting, the small Alabama town is also dealing with the troubling situation of not having their yearly Christmas Jubilation.Tyler Perry is back with another installment in his Madea films. This time Madea bringing the holiday cheer. Like his previous Madea film, there is more Madea and less of the dramatic soap opera aspects. While are different issues deal with, they're all evenly balanced. This issues dealt with this time around include the idea of interracial marriages and relationships, letting children live their own lives, and of course, the real meaning of Christmas including the Christ vs. Santa issues. While the issues dealt with in the film are very "been there, done that", they're done in a way that keeps the story going and makes for a decent holiday film. And of course we are given major comedic relief from Madea. Only this time around we have her going back and forth with Larry the Cable Guy as Conner's father. These moments are easily the most comical. The story isn't anything new or fresh, but it's a nice film to enjoy around the holiday season.The film is supported by a very talented cast. Tyler Perry is comical as always as Madea. Larry the Cable Guy and Kathy Najimy are also a treat for the screen. The whole cast does a really good job with their roles, whether they are characters we are supposed to love or characters to hate, and when the character arcs come, their transitions for the characters are very clear to see. This has always been one of the strongest factors in Perry's films, he always chooses very talented actors who get really into their roles, and this film is no different.A Madea Christmas no doubt, like Perry's other films will have its haters. But it's a film that may not be anything fresh or new, but it still has a great cast going for it, plenty of humor, heart, and a good story that brings out the holiday spirit.My Rating: 7/10