Madea's Family Reunion

Nothing that happens seems the least bit believable, and everything is brash and loud. All that's missing is the laugh track.

Perry's vaudevillian shamelessness and indifference to committee-approved taste are energizing and frequently jaw-dropping.

Tyler Perry's heart is in the right place, but he still has a tin ear.

At times it feels as if Perry made three separate films, dumped them in a blender and hit the puree button.

Let's not sell Tyler Perry short. As the vinegar-witted Madea, he's a drag performer of testy charm, but in his overlit patchwork way he's also making the most primal women's pictures since Joan Crawford flexed her shoulder pads.

Simple yet effective, funny yet meaningful.

Tyler Perry means well, but there is no denying that all of this would work far better on daytime television.

The dysfunctional script and operatically excessive direction ... land someplace closer to outsider art than bad moviedom.