Tiger Woods, you may not want to see this movie.
TWISTED GRADE: C+
Tyler Perry has done it again. He’s churned out another blockbuster with his latest film Why Did I get Married Too, but in total fairness for this review, and this is not to undermine the man’s hustle, passion, and drive, which I definitely respect; but TP should’ve been a little more focused on churning and crafting out a high quality product that should have at least been comparable to the first Why Did I Get Married Film.
Tyler Perry is a simple filmmaker and what I mean by that, is that his films are pretty straightforward with its intentions for the viewers and that is for the viewers to receive some type of message on the importance of morality and doing what’s right. And in his latest installment to the franchise, the message is as clear as day, “Marriage is a sacred bond”, “Divorces can get ugly”, “Communication is key”, etc.
These kind of messages are typical TP vices that everyone expects from him going in to watch one of his movies. These messages aren’t what’s wrong with this film. Every movie has a message. Even Soul Plane had a message. Film Directors a lot of the time fall into a niche that they master and predominately focus their efforts on. Tyler’s niche happens to be Christian oriented movies and there’s nothing wrong with that. My problem with TP is how the story and the structure in which these messages are displayed, and that irks the hell out of me because I expect to see growth from each of TP’s movies and that simply doesn’t happen.
I think I figured out why the growth that I am expecting to see from TP doesn’t happen. Tyler Perry’s movies are critic proof. He doesn’t care about people like me. He doesn’t care about his peers, even peers as critically acclaimed as Spike Lee. He cares about the bottom line and that bottom line is that his films WILL make money, guaranteed! His fanbase are remarkable creatures. They will support Tyler Perry films even if they believe that his films aren’t a quality product.
WDIGMT is a return visit to the characters Perry created in his successful 2007 relationship comedy based upon a group of couples who gather annually to rejuvenate their marriages and hash out their marital woes. The formula is the same. Last time they were in Colorado Springs, this time they’re in the Bahamas. The couples are the same, though Sheila (Jill Scott) has left her abusive ex-spouse (Richard T. Jones) and is now with a kinder, gentler beau (Lamman Rucker). But guess who makes an appearance at the couples retreat to stir things up a bit? You guessed it. Yes, Sheila’s ex decides to stop by. Who saw that one coming?
TP films aren’t exactly known for their unique storylines and diversion into unpredictability. Even though this film has a couple of “twists” that some of you may be able to figure out shortly into the movie, the “twists” are so rushed and forced that you really don’t have enough time to digest them and at the packed screening that I attended, several audience members literally were shaking there heads several times in disgust at several of the “twisted” moments in the film. Some were even booing, which was a first for me to see at a TP film.
Terry (Perry) and Dianne (Sharon Leal) are still rather placid, though this time around they have a bit more going on while the psychologist Patricia (Janet Jackson) and Gavin (Malik Yoba) are having genuine marital troubles that may have them headed for splitsville. Marcus (Michael Jai White) and Angela (Tasha Smith) are still as over dramatic as ever, and at times Angela’s voice gets a little annoying and you may have to hold your tongue to keep from telling her to “Shut up!” I loved the characters in the first film but in this film they got on my nerves. They were like the unemployed cousin that comes in from out of town to stay with you for a “few days” but ends up staying for a whole year. The cousin that drinks up all your orange juice and leaves you with the orange drink. Y’all know what I’m talking about.
Perry writes films targeting the African-American experience and creates broadly drawn characters that are supposed to resonate with virtually everyone, but at times it seems as though his writing is off mark or that he’s rushing to meet production deadlines, because simply put this story doesn’t make any sense a lot of the times and this happens too frequently. Why Did I Get Married Too was all over the place. The storyline was grossly undeveloped, the acting (Janet Jackson in particular) was uninspired and the main characters were presented like caricatures of real people. The dynamic that existed between Patricia and Gavin was laughable. People in the theater were laughing at moments that should have been riveting.
Tyler Perry creates scenarios and then he decides that he doesn’t need to explore them, it feels like he ties up loose ends just to finish the script. The ending wasn’t even sensible based on the events that immediately preceded it and I won’t give out the details on what I mean. There’s isn’t any “real” punishment that certain characters should have to go through. There isn’t any justification as to why the punishment or hardship isn’t there other than TP just didn’t want to spend any time on that fact and because he’s too focused on giving the movie a happy ending. If TP would’ve removed the last 5 minutes of the film (those that have seen the movie know what I’m talking about), the film would’ve been much better. Even though a lot of the syrupy sweetness of the movie would’ve been removed, the pancakes would’ve tasted much better.
I sat there watching Why Did I Get Married Too feeling duped, like how long does he think that he can get away with doing the same kind of movie over and over again? I respect Tyler Perry’s creative talent, but I think he needs to study his craft a little more and realize that people are paying to watch a movie and not a play. I thought that he was on the right track with his first WDIGM film, but there were instances where literally the camera was positioned on the characters for what seemed like 10 minutes at a time without any camera movement and we were forced to listen to the characters ramble about ridiculousness almost as if I was stuck in the front row of a playhouse and just staring at the stage. Everyone knows that TP came from a theater background, but he’s making movies now and that’s totally unacceptable.
I was actually looking forward to this movie as soon as the previews hit a way back. I enjoyed the first film immensely. This is just one man’s opinion. As always, it’s best for you to see the film yourself. For those that have seen it, please sound off below.
