Madea's Big Happy Family (film)
Encyclopedia
Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family is a 2011 comedy-drama film
based on Tyler Perry
's 2010 play of the same name
and the eleventh film in the Tyler Perry film franchise, and the fifth in the Madea franchise.
) goes to visit Dr. Evans (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez
) with Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis
) about her cancer and finds out that it had worsened. She asks Aunt Bam to call her children so she can tell them. Cora (Tamela Mann
) and Mr. Brown (David Mann) are at the hospital, to get Mr. Brown a check-up. Dr. Evans tells them he has to do a colonoscopy on Mr. Brown, and they find a growth that needs to be removed surgically. Meanwhile Madea (Tyler Perry) drives her car through a restaurant because they stopped serving breakfast.
Shirley's children Byron (Bow Wow
), Tammy (Natalie Desselle-Reid
), Kimberly (Shannon Kane
) arrive at the dinner. Byron arrives with his girlfriend Renee (Lauren London
) and his baby Byron Jr. Tammy arrives with her husband Harold (Rodney Perry
) and their two kids, Tammy and Harold fighting about directions. Kimberly arrives with her husband Calvin (Isaiah Mustafa
). Tammy and Kimberly start to fight, and Byron's ex-girlfriend Sabrina (Teyana Taylor) arrives. Sabrina is Byron's baby momma, and she likes calling Byron a drug dealer, since he was one when he was young and got arrested because of it, and she loudly extends his name, just to annoy him and his family. Sabrina also happens to be the manager of 'Smax', the restaurant that Madea crashed into. Everybody leaves for their own reasons and Shirley doesn't get the chance to tell them about her cancer. During the night, Byron and Renee sneak inside Shirley's house to sleep there, but Byron gets arrested by the police for unknown reasons. Shirley goes to Kimberly's house to ask her to bail him out, but Kimberly refuses. Calvin instead helps Shirley bail him out.
Aunt Bam tells Madea about the cancer and the family’s situation and Madea promises to gather all Shirley’s children for dinner that evening. She goes to Harold’s garage where Tammy works and tells her to go to the family dinner. Tammy gets called by a client so Madea slaps and disciplines Tammy’s children for their disrespect, which puts fear into them. She then goes to Byron’s workplace, but she finds him outside, since he was fired for being late as he spent the night in jail. She proceeds to Kimberly, whom she finds her showing clients a house and she yells at her to attend the dinner. Meanwhile, Mr. Brown loses a lot of blood during his surgery and the doctor asks Cora to donate some. When she does, she finds out that she doesn't have the same blood type as him, implying that he may not be her real father.
At dinner, Tammy and Kimberly have a vicious argument that leads to Tammy revealing that Kimberly is Byron’s mother, since she had become pregnant when she 13 years old (she was raped when she was 12 years old by an uncle). Byron storms out of the house, angry this was kept from him. For the first time, Harold put his foot down towards Tammy and tells her to respect him more. Tammy and Harold then sort their problems out because of the way things didn't work out between the two. Harold acted weak because Tammy acted like she was the boss of him, which led their children to show no respect for their parents or anyone else. Over time, Shirley’s condition worsens greatly and she goes to hospital; she tells Byron, Tammy, Harold, and Calvin, who arrive to see her, that she loves them all, including Kimberly who isn’t present, and she dies. After Shirley's funeral service, Madea confronts the family, saying that Shirley was a peaceful woman and she didn't want all the fighting going on.
First, Madea confronts Sabrina about abusing Byron’s hard-earned money, and that she must start respecting him, especially telling her to stop using their child to make his life look miserable or she will be deal with Madea or worse. Second, Madea confronts Byron and tells him to get a job in order go on the right path, because selling drugs will lead him to his own demise and Renee will just move on to the next man with a lot of money. Madea also wants Byron to start taking care of his baby and settle things between him and Sabrina together. Third, Madea tells everyone that Shirley didn't want her children to know that Kimberly was raped by their uncle, which is why she became so hostile and aggressive towards everyone, because she didn't forgive the man that raped her. Kimberly sorts her issues with Calvin, feeling that she doesn't know how to begin, and finally hugs him. Byron breaks up with Renee, because he just buried his mother while Renee only thinks about herself. He later forgives Kimberly.
The film ends with Madea, Mr. Brown, and Cora on The Maury Povich Show to find out if Mr. Brown is in fact Cora's father. Madea says he is, but it turns out he's not. This surprises Madea who runs off-stage, sobbing hysterically.
. By the end of its run, the $25 million film grossed $53,345,287 in the United States.
, the film has an overall approval rating of 41% with an average rating of 4.6/10. Another review aggretator, Metacritic
, gave the film an average rating of 45 based on 15 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
and Blu-ray
on August 30, 2011. The DVD features four featurettes: "By-reen: The Baby Mama from Hell", "Ties That Bind", "Madea's Family Tree", and "Brown Calls Maury". The Blu-ray contains these features including a digital copy
.
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
based on Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
's 2010 play of the same name
Madea's Big Happy Family
Madea's Big Happy Family is a 2010 American musical play created, written, produced, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Mabel "Madea" Simmons, Cassi Davis as Aunt Bam, Palmer Williams, Jr. as Uncle Monroe, and Chandra Currelley-Young as Shirley.Perry began writing "Big Happy...
and the eleventh film in the Tyler Perry film franchise, and the fifth in the Madea franchise.
Plot
Shirley (Loretta DevineLoretta Devine
Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
) goes to visit Dr. Evans (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez
Philip Anthony-Rodriguez
Philip Anthony-Rodriguez is an American actor and voice actor of Puerto Rican descent who is known for his roles on Jake 2.0 as Kyle Duarte and the voice of disc jockey Maurice Chavez in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. His voice is also heard in the 2010 video game Halo: Reach...
) with Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis
Cassi Davis
Cassandra "Cassi" Davis is an American actress. She is mostly known for her role as Ella Payne in Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Davis has done extensive work with director and writer Tyler Perry, and has played many roles in his various productions...
) about her cancer and finds out that it had worsened. She asks Aunt Bam to call her children so she can tell them. Cora (Tamela Mann
Tamela Mann
Tamela J. Mann is an American actress and gospel singer, known for her role as Cora in Tyler Perry's plays, including I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Meet the Browns, and What's Done in the Dark...
) and Mr. Brown (David Mann) are at the hospital, to get Mr. Brown a check-up. Dr. Evans tells them he has to do a colonoscopy on Mr. Brown, and they find a growth that needs to be removed surgically. Meanwhile Madea (Tyler Perry) drives her car through a restaurant because they stopped serving breakfast.
Shirley's children Byron (Bow Wow
Bow Wow
Shad Gregory Moss , better known by his stage name Bow Wow , is an American rapper and actor. As Lil' Bow Wow, he released his first album, Beware of Dog in 2000 at age 13, which was followed by Doggy Bag 2001...
), Tammy (Natalie Desselle-Reid
Natalie Desselle-Reid
Natalie Desselle-Reid is an American actress.Desselle-Reid was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, the daughter of Thelma and Paul Desselle. She graduated from Peabody Magnet High School and attended Grambling State University...
), Kimberly (Shannon Kane
Shannon Kane
Shannon Kane is an American actress who is currently portraying Natalia Hubbard on ABC's daytime drama All My Children.-Filmography:*CSI: Miami as Leslie Anderson *The Young and the Restless as Monica...
) arrive at the dinner. Byron arrives with his girlfriend Renee (Lauren London
Lauren London
Lauren Nicole London is an American film and television actress, model, and occasional music video actress. Beginning her career in music videos and later transitioning into film and television, London earned recognition for her performances in the film ATL as well as the television shows 90210...
) and his baby Byron Jr. Tammy arrives with her husband Harold (Rodney Perry
Rodney Perry
Rodney Perry is an American comedian, actor and writer. He serves as co-host on BET's The Mo'Nique Show where he provides laughs alongside comedienne Mo’Nique five nights a week.- Early life :...
) and their two kids, Tammy and Harold fighting about directions. Kimberly arrives with her husband Calvin (Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa is an American actor and former NFL practice squad wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character for a series of Old Spice TV commercials, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.-Early life:...
). Tammy and Kimberly start to fight, and Byron's ex-girlfriend Sabrina (Teyana Taylor) arrives. Sabrina is Byron's baby momma, and she likes calling Byron a drug dealer, since he was one when he was young and got arrested because of it, and she loudly extends his name, just to annoy him and his family. Sabrina also happens to be the manager of 'Smax', the restaurant that Madea crashed into. Everybody leaves for their own reasons and Shirley doesn't get the chance to tell them about her cancer. During the night, Byron and Renee sneak inside Shirley's house to sleep there, but Byron gets arrested by the police for unknown reasons. Shirley goes to Kimberly's house to ask her to bail him out, but Kimberly refuses. Calvin instead helps Shirley bail him out.
Aunt Bam tells Madea about the cancer and the family’s situation and Madea promises to gather all Shirley’s children for dinner that evening. She goes to Harold’s garage where Tammy works and tells her to go to the family dinner. Tammy gets called by a client so Madea slaps and disciplines Tammy’s children for their disrespect, which puts fear into them. She then goes to Byron’s workplace, but she finds him outside, since he was fired for being late as he spent the night in jail. She proceeds to Kimberly, whom she finds her showing clients a house and she yells at her to attend the dinner. Meanwhile, Mr. Brown loses a lot of blood during his surgery and the doctor asks Cora to donate some. When she does, she finds out that she doesn't have the same blood type as him, implying that he may not be her real father.
At dinner, Tammy and Kimberly have a vicious argument that leads to Tammy revealing that Kimberly is Byron’s mother, since she had become pregnant when she 13 years old (she was raped when she was 12 years old by an uncle). Byron storms out of the house, angry this was kept from him. For the first time, Harold put his foot down towards Tammy and tells her to respect him more. Tammy and Harold then sort their problems out because of the way things didn't work out between the two. Harold acted weak because Tammy acted like she was the boss of him, which led their children to show no respect for their parents or anyone else. Over time, Shirley’s condition worsens greatly and she goes to hospital; she tells Byron, Tammy, Harold, and Calvin, who arrive to see her, that she loves them all, including Kimberly who isn’t present, and she dies. After Shirley's funeral service, Madea confronts the family, saying that Shirley was a peaceful woman and she didn't want all the fighting going on.
First, Madea confronts Sabrina about abusing Byron’s hard-earned money, and that she must start respecting him, especially telling her to stop using their child to make his life look miserable or she will be deal with Madea or worse. Second, Madea confronts Byron and tells him to get a job in order go on the right path, because selling drugs will lead him to his own demise and Renee will just move on to the next man with a lot of money. Madea also wants Byron to start taking care of his baby and settle things between him and Sabrina together. Third, Madea tells everyone that Shirley didn't want her children to know that Kimberly was raped by their uncle, which is why she became so hostile and aggressive towards everyone, because she didn't forgive the man that raped her. Kimberly sorts her issues with Calvin, feeling that she doesn't know how to begin, and finally hugs him. Byron breaks up with Renee, because he just buried his mother while Renee only thinks about herself. He later forgives Kimberly.
The film ends with Madea, Mr. Brown, and Cora on The Maury Povich Show to find out if Mr. Brown is in fact Cora's father. Madea says he is, but it turns out he's not. This surprises Madea who runs off-stage, sobbing hysterically.
Cast
- Tyler PerryTyler PerryTyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
as Mabel "Madea" Simmons/Joe Simmons - Bow Wow as Byron
- Lauren LondonLauren LondonLauren Nicole London is an American film and television actress, model, and occasional music video actress. Beginning her career in music videos and later transitioning into film and television, London earned recognition for her performances in the film ATL as well as the television shows 90210...
as Renee - Loretta DevineLoretta DevineLoretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
as Shirley - David Mann as Mr. Brown
- Tamela MannTamela MannTamela J. Mann is an American actress and gospel singer, known for her role as Cora in Tyler Perry's plays, including I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Meet the Browns, and What's Done in the Dark...
as Cora - Cassi DavisCassi DavisCassandra "Cassi" Davis is an American actress. She is mostly known for her role as Ella Payne in Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Davis has done extensive work with director and writer Tyler Perry, and has played many roles in his various productions...
as Betty Ann "Aunt Bam" Murphy - Shannon KaneShannon KaneShannon Kane is an American actress who is currently portraying Natalia Hubbard on ABC's daytime drama All My Children.-Filmography:*CSI: Miami as Leslie Anderson *The Young and the Restless as Monica...
as Kimberly - Isaiah MustafaIsaiah MustafaIsaiah Mustafa is an American actor and former NFL practice squad wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character for a series of Old Spice TV commercials, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.-Early life:...
as Calvin - Natalie Desselle-ReidNatalie Desselle-ReidNatalie Desselle-Reid is an American actress.Desselle-Reid was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, the daughter of Thelma and Paul Desselle. She graduated from Peabody Magnet High School and attended Grambling State University...
as Tammy - Rodney PerryRodney PerryRodney Perry is an American comedian, actor and writer. He serves as co-host on BET's The Mo'Nique Show where he provides laughs alongside comedienne Mo’Nique five nights a week.- Early life :...
as Harold - Teyana Taylor as Sabrina
- Philip Anthony-RodriguezPhilip Anthony-RodriguezPhilip Anthony-Rodriguez is an American actor and voice actor of Puerto Rican descent who is known for his roles on Jake 2.0 as Kyle Duarte and the voice of disc jockey Maurice Chavez in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. His voice is also heard in the 2010 video game Halo: Reach...
as Dr. Evans - Maury PovichMaury PovichMaurice Richard "Maury" Povich is an American TV talk show host who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury.-Personal background:...
(cameoCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
) as Himself
Box office
Madea's Big Happy Family was released on April 22, 2011. It opened with $25,068,677 on its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office behind RioRio (film)
Rio, often promoted as Rio: The Movie, is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, in which the film is set. The film features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne...
. By the end of its run, the $25 million film grossed $53,345,287 in the United States.
Critical reception
The film has received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 19 reviews collected by Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film has an overall approval rating of 41% with an average rating of 4.6/10. Another review aggretator, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, gave the film an average rating of 45 based on 15 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Home media
Madea's Big Happy Family was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on August 30, 2011. The DVD features four featurettes: "By-reen: The Baby Mama from Hell", "Ties That Bind", "Madea's Family Tree", and "Brown Calls Maury". The Blu-ray contains these features including a digital copy
Digital copy
Digital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
.