Madea's Family Reunion
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTyler Perry
Written byTyler Perry
Based onMadea's Family Reunion
by Tyler Perry
Produced byTyler Perry
Reuben Cannon
Starring
CinematographyToyomichi Kurita
Edited byJohn Carter
Music byElvin Ross
Tyler Perry
Production
companies
Tyler Perry Studios
Reuben Cannon Productions
Distributed byLions Gate Films
Release date
  • February 24, 2006 (2006-02-24)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million[1]
Box office$63.4 million[1]

Madea's Family Reunion is a 2006 American comedy-drama film and an adaptation of the stage production of the same name written by Tyler Perry. The film is a sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was written, directed by, and starring Perry with the rest of the cast consisting of Blair Underwood, Lynn Whitfield, Boris Kodjoe, Henry Simmons, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Maya Angelou, Rochelle Aytes, Jenifer Lewis, Tangi Miller, Keke Palmer, and Cicely Tyson. The film tells the story of Madea preparing for an upcoming family reunion while dealing with the dramas before and during it. It was released on February 24, 2006, nearly one year following its predecessor, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The independent film was produced by Lionsgate.

Madea's Family Reunion received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing $63.4 million worldwide against a $6 million budget.

Plot

After Madea violates the terms of the house arrest she was subjected to in the previous film, Judge Mablean Ephriam orders her to take in a rebellious foster child named Nikki in order to avoid jail. At first, Madea and Nikki clash due to the latter's bad attitude and disrespect, stemming from her poor life, including an absent father, a mother in jail, and a slew of uncaring foster homes. However, Madea urges her to overcome her past with work hard, and strive to be better than the people who wronged her. Nikki, with consistent support from Madea, gradually reforms her behavior.

Meanwhile, Lisa Breaux, a grand-niece of Madea, is engaged to Carlos Armstrong, an abusive and controlling investment banker. While Lisa desperately wants to get out of the engagement, her mother Victoria urges her to go through with the wedding. Vanessa, Lisa's older sister, has two children by two different men, neither of whom are involved in their children's lives; Victoria regularly degrades Vanessa for this. With some effort, Vanessa is successfully wooed by bus driver Frankie Henderson, who is a single father and has a passion for painting. As much as Vanessa likes Frankie, she is emotionally distant and has a difficult time trusting him.

Lisa eventually leaves Carlos with the intention of calling off the wedding, temporarily moving in with Madea. Carlos, eager to move forward with the wedding, dispatches Victoria to bring Lisa back to him. Victoria confronts Carlos about the abuse. It is then revealed that Victoria, with Carlos's assistance, has stolen from Lisa's trust fund over the years, to the point of leaving virtually no money left, and is now encouraging Lisa to marry Carlos in order to keep up her livelihood. Carlos makes it clear to Victoria that he will not bail her out unless the wedding goes forward.

Victoria goes to Madea's house to fetch Lisa, only to end up in an argument with Vanessa, who has become aware of Carlos's abuse and is eager to protect her sister. During the confrontation, Vanessa reveals that Victoria allowed her second husband, Lisa's father, to rape Vanessa in order to keep him in the marriage. Vanessa states that the sexual abuse occurred on a regular basis after that, which as a result, left her closed-off emotionally and unable to trust the men in her life, including Frankie. Victoria rationalizes her actions, telling her daughters that they faced destitution if Lisa's father had left, and that after previous hardships, she was tired of struggling. She also reveals that her own mother, a prostitute and drug addict, regularly traded her for "ten dollars and a fix". Victoria then turns on a horrified Lisa, demanding that Lisa begin taking care of her financially. Vanessa then derides Victoria for the pain she has put her through, but also vows to break their family's tragic cycle by embracing the true love she has found with Frankie and being a better mother to her own children. Victoria then leaves and later lies to Lisa, telling her that Carlos has agreed to counseling.

At the family reunion held at the home of 96-year-old Aunt Ruby, Vanessa and Victoria get into another verbal confrontation, which eventually turns into a physical fight after Victoria insults Vanessa’s relationship with Frankie. The fight is broken up when Aunt Ruby, Madea's daughter Myrtle, and Ruby's daughter Aunt May gather the family members to an old slave shack where the family's ancestors grew up. Ruby expresses disappointment at how the family has turned out. Myrtle persuades them to act lovingly towards each other and themselves.

Lisa eventually returns to Carlos and resumes her wedding plans. On the day of her wedding, Lisa has fled Carlos and retreated to Madea’s house. Madea tells her that it is time for her to fight back. When Carlos arrives at Madea's house, Madea subtly suggests to Lisa to use the pot of hot grits on the stove to defend herself as Madea taught her in an earlier conversation. When Madea leaves the house, Carlos slaps Lisa. In retaliation, she throws the pot of hot grits in his face, scalding him badly, then beats him with a cast iron frying pan as Madea listens outside with laughter.

At the church, Lisa announces to the family members and other guests that the wedding is off and exposes Carlos’s abuse. A sour Victoria is lambasted by Madea, telling Victoria to find her own life instead of continuing to live through Lisa. Frankie then asks Vanessa to marry him, and she accepts. They're married at the church instead.

At the reception, Victoria accepts Vanessa’s marriage, revealing possible reconciliation.

Cast

  • Tyler Perry as:
    • Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough old lady.
    • Joe Simmons, the brother of Madea, and a wisecracker.
    • Brian Simmons, a lawyer who is the son of Joe and the nephew of Madea.
  • Blair Underwood as Carlos Armstrong, a controlling investment banker who is loosely based on Ronnie from the stage play.
  • Lynn Whitfield as Victoria Breaux, a gold-digging woman and a niece of Madea.
  • Boris Kodjoe as Frankie Henderson, a bus driver who is also a painter, and later marries Vanessa.
  • Henry Simmons as Isaac, a nephew of Madea who is antagonized by Joe when he was repairing Madea's lawnmower.
  • Lisa Arrindell Anderson as Vanessa Breaux-Henderson, the grand-niece of Madea and daughter of Victoria who falls for Frankie after two bad relationships, and eventually marries him.
  • Maya Angelou as Aunt May, a cousin of Madea.
  • Rochelle Aytes as Lisa Breaux, the grand-niece of Madea and daughter of Victoria who is to be engaged to Carlos.
  • Jenifer Lewis as Milay Jenay Lori, a wedding planner.
  • Keke Palmer as Nikki Grady, a girl who Madea takes in.
  • Tangi Miller as Donna, the love interest of Isaac and sister of Brian.
  • Cicely Tyson as Aunt Myrtle, Madea's daughter-in-law.
  • China Anderson as Nima, the daughter of Vanessa.
  • Akhil Jackson as Jonathan, the son of Vanessa and the younger half-brother of Nima.
  • Alonzo Millsap as Tre, the son of Frankie.
  • Georgia Allen as Aunt Ruby, a 96-year-old aunt of Madea who is the mother of May and Sarah.
  • Cassi Davis as Aunt Sarah, a cousin of Madea and the sister of May.
  • Leon Lamar as Grover, a cousin of Madea and Joe.
  • John Lawhorn as Uncle Pete, a cousin of Madea and Joe.
  • Afemo Omilami as Isaac Sr., the father of Isaac and cousin of Madea and Joe.
  • Mablean Ephriam as Herself
  • Deanna Dawn as Tyrequa
  • Enoch King as Hykeem
  • Jennifer Sears as an unnamed female at the family reunion.
  • Tre Rogers as an unnamed young man at the family reunion.
  • Elizabeth Omilami as Aunt Clara, a relative of Madea.
  • Nicholas Ortiz as Himself
  • Johnny Gill as a wedding singer
  • David Wiebers as Wedding Trumpeter
  • China Anne McClain as Youth (uncredited)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released by Motown Records on February 21, 2006.

Track listing
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Find Myself in You"Brian McKnight4:14
2."We're Gonna Make It"LL Cool J and Mary Mary4:54
3."Keep Your Head Up"Chaka Khan4:34
4."Tonight"Kem3:55
5."Everyday (Family Reunion)"Chaka Khan, Carl Thomas, Yolanda Adams, and Gerald Levert4:48
6."Love and Happiness"Al Green5:02
7."You For Me (Wedding Song)"Johnny Gill5:37
8."Family Reunion"The O'Jays6:55
9."I'll Be"Will Downing4:10
10."Wounds in the Way"Rachelle Ferrell4:21

Release and reception

Box office

Madea's Family Reunion was budgeted at $6 million and opened at #1 in its opening weekend (2/24-26) with $30,030,661[2] and eventually grossed $63,257,940 in North America with an additional $50,939 internationally, tying $63,308,879 worldwide after 9 weeks in theaters.[1]

Small independent filmmaker Tyler Perry has garnered one of the highest wide-release openings to date in 2006, in both gross ($30 million) and screen average ($13,687).[3]

"The number one movie is Madea's Family Reunion, a small comedy/melodrama which grossed an astounding $30.3 million from 2,194 venues. It had a super-hot venue average of $13,787...."[4]

"Playing at 2,194 locations across North America, the film averaged a remarkable estimated $13,788 per screen, demonstrating the enormous breadth and depth of Perry's audience. The debut weekend of Madea's Family Reunion outperformed the opening weekend of Lionsgate's first Tyler Perry film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, by nearly 40 percent."[5] To illustrate the point, Lions Gate's exit polls showed 52 percent of the audience were black women over the age of 35.[6]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 26%, based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 4.50/10. The site's consensus reads "Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion is sincere in its positive intentions, but leaves something to be desired as a film."[7] On Metacritic, it has a score of 45% based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an A grade.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Madea's Family Reunion". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Domestic 2006 Weekend 8". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Domestic Box Office For 2006". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Box Office Prophets: Box Office Estimates Report for February 24-26, 2006". Archived from the original on April 26, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2006.
  5. ↑ http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060226/nysu016.html?.v=39
  6. ↑ Brandon Gray (February 27, 2006). "'Madea' Drags Moviegoers to 'Family Reunion'". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Madea's Family Reunion (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Madea's Family Reunion". Metacritic. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
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