A Madea Christmas

Objectively horrible but I had quite a bit of fun with it.

Her mom is a bag of racist.

Why on earth are there so very many movies starring the world's ugliest and most ill-tempered drag queen? Nothing at all to recommend it, although Kathy Najimy at least brings a bit of actual craft to the table, and Tika Sumpter sure looks pretty.

I almost made it, almost. I left the theater with 15 or so minutes left. Why did this movie have to be 100 minutes? I'm sure 85 would have been sufficient enough. The funniest parts of the movie are the awful star-wipes which had me nearly dying of laughter in the theater. Sadly, the movie isn't 100 minutes of star wipes. This movie feels like made-for-tv trash, absolute trash.

I'll admit it, there were moments here when I was amused. Perry clearly has fun with his signature role here, and tiresome though Madea can be, some of her quips are good for a chuckle. And Larry the Cable Guy is surprisingly acceptable in a relatively low-key role. Everything else, though, is horrendous; the supporting cast ranges from anonymous to disastrous (Anna Maria Horsford's performance is truly depressing to watch), and the plot is the most cliched of melodramas, sprinkled with farce.

Racial reconciliation and a bit of nudging to keep on moving past our old prejudices also consumes a good bit of screen time. Star Kathy Najimy says of that, "Philosophically, A Madea Christmas is about unity and inclusiveness and diversity." And Perry adds, "The most important lesson, to me, is that we are all the same no matter what race, no matter where we come from. We're all the same people. If there's one thing to take away from this movie it's 'Live and let live.'" (pluggedin.com)

It literally seems like they made this up on the spot. Huge, HUGE stretches of incompetence, but then Madea will show up and goose the proceedings a little, giving us a chuckle or two. Madea's exchanges with Larry the Cable Guy are probably the highlight, but this is some BAD filmmaking, guys. Still, I saw it with a packed house who absolutely frigging roared at it, so what do I know.