Steve Pulaski Meet the Browns is a tolerable albeit thoroughly bland effort by Tyler Perry, that manages to touch on sensitive, vital issues in the black community but also shortchange a great deal of those involved in the community into broad forgettable caricatures. Concerning the Brown family, as the title suggests, the film follows single-mother Brenda (Angela Bassett) living in Chicago with her oldest son Michael (Lance Gross) in high school and her two young daughters.One day, Brenda receives a death notice that states the father she has never met has died. Upon losing her job after the executives decide to pull the plug on her business's entire operation, Brenda packs up the kids and sets off for Georgia, quickly discovering the side of the family she never knew existed. Brenda is welcomed with open arms to meet a good-natured clan known as the Brown family, which also provide her with a release from Chicago's hectic environment and introduce her to the slower ways of Georgia.Meet the Browns is sufficient for both basic cable entertainment in addition to Tyler Perry's filmography, which always seems to find ways to incorporate more and more questionable film entries in there. If anything, the basic structure I just gave you is what the film manages to set up best; what it unfortunately does is squander relationships in the film in favor of too many pale and broad plotstrands that do nothing but muddle themes. There are various characters in Meet the Browns and they're all drawn very broadly, and their problems are never narrowed down to fit something that feels more human. Perry paints in broadstrokes here when he should be refining detail.Having said that, Meet the Browns does a nice job at telling us (or maybe reminding some) that there is a vicious cycle in the black community that is sad but true. It's the cycle of a teenager dropping out of school for momentary income to support a family but only getting wrapped up in a dirty, gritty business that seems to be trying to find new ways to kill you or finding themselves living paycheck-to-paycheck. This cycle is acknowledged when Michael, the ambitious basketball player who is in the middle of being hounded and recruited to college teams, offers to get a job while working in high school. Brenda, however, worries that his hours and paycheck will overshadow the importance of education and studies and he'll fall down this path of directionless behavior.When Perry finds underlying issues in the black community to bring up is when he's strong; when he's busy generalizing the community is when he's weak. Perry always seems to mean well but finds ways to dilute, skew, or completely contradict his own intended message and that has been his drawback from day one. However, with Meet the Browns, he hit a goldmine in terms of popularity, eventually incorporating the film's premise and characters into Perry's second sitcom, which went on to do solid numbers on Television. People obviously see things in Meet the Browns and its comedic/dramatic leverage that I have yet to find; wouldn't be the first time.Starring: Angela Bassett and Lance Gross. Directed by: Tyler Perry.

smooth_op_85 I give this film a 7 because as a fan of the plays, I really didn't get much of the story. Now, I watched it on YOUTUBE but the fact is that I've already seen this material so it's really like 'Great, you put a compilation of what you've already done just established more in the film' I feel that the family could have been highlighted a little more because of the fact of the Title Meet The Browns. I do feel as if this is not the worst that he's ever done, but it is one of the ones I would put down there with Diary Of A Mad Black Woman the Play.As far as Brown, I don't think that he should be in movies. I talked to one of my directors a while ago and she said that there is a world of difference between a movie actor and a stage actor. I am not in film but I do know that in a play there is a certain suspension of reality that is expected but in a movie, it is expected to be as real as possible while being fictional enough to entertain you. This movie kinda flirts between the two, Any of the playgoers you may see some of the interplay between the plays Meet The Browns and What's Done In The Dark. This is really not what I expected, also Angela Basset does a great job that I almost believe that she's a young woman though I think they should have cast a younger actress, I think that Kimberly Elise could have played this part very convincingly The film opens up with Brenda getting her 3 kids off to work and her sidekick Cheryl making sure the bus doesn't leave without her. She makes it. Then Brenda opens some mail to see that a Father she never knew died and that she's unemployed--talk about a bad day. She comes to her son's basketball game and he shows some promise (Michael) so much so that a recruiter tries to get Brenda to sign him up, she flat out refuses.She tries to bounce back when her lights get cut off and at one point a daycare woman played by the great Irma P Hall says 'I'm not gonna take your child in if you don't pay' but she makes a change of heart when she realizes what kind of woman she is.Needless to say she gets down to GA and gets a house. Now, there is a lot of wackiness but if you've seen the play you know what it is ad nauseum. So, the new part is the HO scene (Youtube: Meet The Browns 5). Funeral, Brown acts a fool, etc. then the house and it looks like it should be torn down, She goes back to Chicago and then suffers seeing her child get into selling dope when his Father doesn't want anything to do with him. He gets shot and is okay and ends up being a great basketball player while attending college.Back in GA, the house is now great and something comes to light about Rick Fox--he was a gambler and may only want to have Michael around for a pay load so he can pay them off, this is revealed to be unfounded as Rick paid them off. They make up and it's roses in GA, however, the one point that's left open is: Did Brenda get a job or does she depend on her child now? I mean, I wondered about this but Michael did say that he is going to take care of his Mom and Sisters I just thought that Brenda would get herself a good job in GA.This was my perspective on the movie. Overall it was nice but Tyler Perry needs to stop using the old material from his plays as he did with WHY DID I GET MARRIED AND DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN AS WELL AS MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION. Those were excellent and it didn't depend so much on the plays for its material.Thanks

leighabc123 This movie should be #58 on the top 100 list! You cannot give any movie with great actresses like Jenifer Lewis and Angela Bassett a bad rating. Irma P hall once again plays the grandmother type character with all the wisdom. What was the point of putting that Latina's character in this movie. Madea has a walk on role. It would have been better if they would have gave Madea more lines in this movie. It was more than a coincidence that Rick Fox's character happened to live in Georgia and visiting Chicago. This movie does what very few movies do. It mixes comedy with serious tones. The Brown family was crazy throughout the movie. We also have a single mother trying to raise three children whose job just got terminated and lights got cut off. Then she inherits a run down house in Georgia. Then the lady's son gets shot. Then he gets well and becomes a professional basketball player. Then she ends up getting married. And they live happily ever after. The son's father who never wanted to be in his life shows up after he becomes a professional basketball player.

Audreyfan-no1 I am a huge fan of Tyler Perry, most of all as he is a Christian! And of course as a playwright, director and producer. If you have not seen his plays, watch them first, if you are able to attend a live performance sometime, go and do that. I think a lot of people do not realize that the plays are much different than the movies, the movies are much more toned down than the plays. Meet the Browns on stage, the play contains dope smoking references and some guns here and there, but it's all in jest. There is also beautiful gospel singing, and prayer and faith in God is the key that solves all the problems in the plays, and the mainstay. Madea is a gun wielding pot smoking tough big mama. And this movie is more like the plays than the others. Take it with a grain of salt, enjoy and watch the Brown plays first.