callanvass (Plot) Shirley (Loretta Devine) gets devastating news about her health, and wants her family to come together for it all. The problem is the family is in complete disarray, and they are ignorantly oblivious to everything going on around them. I have yet to see Madea's Witness Protection, but this is by far the worst Madea movie I have seen. Tyler Perry has assembled a cast that isn't up to past standards of Madea movies. He brings in some key players from Meet The Browns such as David Mann (Brown) but it all just felt slightly phony to me with nowhere near the passion as a lot of the other Madea films. Even Madea's act feels tired here, and I usually find Madea to be a lot of fun. The problem here is the plot. I realize Perry writes characters that are morally corrupt a lot of the time, and amps up the melodramatics for emotional effect, but it was overkill here. I get the message Perry was going for in this one, but he should have toned it down a LOT. Some of these characters are written so reprehensibly (Not in an effective way) It was extremely unpleasant to witness and ruined the viewing experience for me. We get the typical Perry ending where the despicable characters wind up feeling copious amounts of guilt for how they've acted and want to be better. I just didn't care one iota about it. Loretta Devine is the most sympathetic character in this film, but that isn't saying much. She's forced to be the most sympathetic because she is the one with the terminal illness. It's a solid, if unmemorable performance. Tyler Perry does his thing as Madea, and I wasn't feeling it this time. Maybe it's because I was so annoyed with my viewing experience, but he just wasn't funny this time around; though. Admittedly, his "Old ass whips the new ass" line was gold. Bow Wow doesn't embarrass himself. That's all I really have to say about him. He was OK as Byron. Cassi Davis has her moments as Aunt Bamm. Shannon Kane should be the most despicable character in this film, but she isn't… That dubious honor goes to Teyana Taylor. Who in their right mind thought calling somebody's name with exaggerated theatrics (BYRONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN) was funny? Rest of the cast does OK, but most of them annoyed me by being too weak or too overbearingFinal Thoughts: Maybe I'm being too much of a stickler, but as a Madea fan, this movie annoyed me to no end. I was so disappointed with it, and its flat presentation. I really hope this series isn't running out of juice, but this was utterly terrible and wildly unfunny. Next up is Madea's Witness Protection & Madea Christmas (Later on this year). I hope you can redeem yourself, Tyler3/10

ichrisstoodley I don't know why there are so many negative reviews for this movie. I really liked it and was laughing the whole time.The only thing I didn't really like was how there was a funny scene and then after that there would be a serious scene, it doesn't make sense. This doesn't affect my rating though because the movie was too comical for me to be lower than a 10. I noticed that there are a few other movies with pretty much the same story. I'm certainly going to watch those, but as others said it's sort of stupid to make the same movie more than once, unless it's a sequel and it's different.Other than these two things, I really enjoyed this movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes comedies.

Ryan_MYeah I have to make a confession. I watch Tyler Perry's Madea films. OK, JUST HEAR ME OUT! Now, I think they're all FAR from perfect films, but at the very least, I do enjoy watching the portions featuring Madea. Such was the case of my latest viewing, Madea's Big Happy Family. It's a bit embarrassing to say, but let's just get down to my review.First of all, we have a tangled web of subplots. The mother of a family, Shirley, is devastated to discover that her case of cancer has worsened, prompting her to plan a family dinner to tell her children about her condition. This includes her daughters, Kimberly and Tammy. Kimberly is a secretive woman (Improperly focused character #1), and Tammy is having trouble with her marriage, and her two disobedient children. This also includes Byron, a man on an unlucky streak, having served jail time for selling drugs, and behind on paying child support to his insufferably obnoxious ex-girlfriend. There's also some drama between Cora and Mr. Brown. But leave it to Madea to set things straight, and not be afraid to beat the living hell out of anyone who steps out of line.This movie is textbook Tyler Perry. As always, he gathers together a cast that could have been quite good, with good material, but their characters are inconsistently written, and their focus tends to blur because the script is overly cluttered with subplots. It's not a problem because they're hard to follow (They really aren't), but it's because it doesn't give these characters all the attention they deserve.This isn't even mentioning Tyler Perry's ubiquitous switch in tone. His rhythm moves as comedic scene, dramatic scene, comedic scene, etc. I think the comedy portions are better than the dramatic portions, but the flip flopping between the two makes things feel dull. At the end of the day, I didn't emotionally connect with the story like I feel I should have. For once, I wish Perry would construct a film that's sure of what it wants to be.I give it ** out of ****

bellymus1 Let me start I have watched all of his films. Tyler Perry I implore you, please! bring us Afro-Americans, etc., more colored girls, the family that preys, why did I get married and less of this drivel. OK! I will give it to you maybe 1 of your other Tyler Perry presents, Madia.... was OK, 7 maybe out of 10.After the first 5 minutes of the movie, I promise you this, if you are cracking up and find it hilarious, stay. However, if you watch the first 5 minutes and think WTF; don't waste the other 1 hr and 40 minutes. Wait till Netflix, wait till HBO, wait till TBS/BET carry the movie. Do not encourage this, and just to remind you yes I typically like Tyler Perry Movies.The most infuriating thing about this is that I know he is capable, as a writer, producer and director of more. Subsequently, in this movie he took lots of short cuts, and it seemed like these scenes were shot and wrapped on the first take. I could excuse it more if this was his first movie and he continually got better from there....at the end of the movie, and I have never done this but I got my money back, and there is nothing more than what I would like than to support black movies, any of them Wayans, Spike, Martin, Eddie, and yes I will still see the next Tyler Perry Movie.Think of it this way out of a 10 rating there is a reason why the average is 2.5, ouch!