I want to get this out of the way: I’ve seen every single Tyler Perry film made to date. I own every single Tyler Perry film as well, with the exception of Meet the Browns. Will I buy it? Yes, but moreso to keep up with my collection rather than because it is a film worth owning. Browns falls short of the depth of Diary of a Mad, Black Woman, misses the mark of family like Madea’s Family Reunion, and neglects the essence of fighting for loved ones like Daddy’s Little Girls. In short, while Meet the Browns is certainly not a bad movie, it is something we’ve seen before in all of Perry’s prior releases. And honestly, it feels a bit rehashed here.
Plot: The story is about Brenda Brown, single mother of three doing her best to keep her family going despite all the hardships along the way. The four of them live in Chicago, where trouble is constantly on the doorstep, until Brenda receives a letter telling her of her departed father. Brenda soon discovers family she never knew she had, which end up helping her turn her life around.
As with typical Tyler Perry films, Browns is about a black woman showing how strong she can be and making it in a world where things are far from easy. And this is basically where the movie falters. What Perry attempts to do here, he already did so well in the touching Daddy’s Little Girls. The real emphasis in Browns is of Brenda’s fight for survival, her quest to be the best mother she can. Angela Bassett may play Brenda to perfection, but unfortunately Brenda is not a character we end up sympathizing with. There just aren’t enough meat and potatoes fleshing out her character. She’s the bone-dry character of a character of a character.
The real star of the show is David Mann, an actor who brings a subtle, yet entertaining, style to the character of Leroy Brown. Leroy is the male counterpart to Madea, and that’s certainly not a bad thing. Tyler writes Madea in a way that makes her unique, yet familiar, and he does the same with Leroy. He’s the cousin that we’re all embarrassed by. He’s the uncle everyone laughs at, not with. And he’s certainly the last guest you think about inviting for Thanksgiving. However, you still love him, because there’s nothing unlikable about him. Aside from the fact that he’s just a little….off. He’s still cute, cuddly, and one of the family. And Mann plays this to perfection.
Though the film may be mostly about Brenda, a large part of her character is her children. The eldest is played by Lance Gross, who may be a talented actor but we’re unable to see it here. This is part of the problem when casting a 26 year old to play a high school senior. They just don’t look the part. And regardless of what his acting abilities may be, it’s impossible not to look at him and immediately have an issue with the age. Brenda’s other two children, played by Chloe Bailey and Mariana Tolbert, are completely wasted in almost every scene. There is literally no point to these two children, with the exception of adding to the burden of Brenda’s problems.
The movie is certainly enjoyable, especially if you’ve enjoyed any of the other Perry films. My only main complaint about it is that we’ve seen this all before from Perry, and he’s done it better. The directing and style is on par with all his others, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. Arguably, Perry’s work may be best suited for viewers who enjoy plays, which makes sense seeing as how Perry started as a playwright and has found an abundance of success there. As it is, Perry continues to flex his talent muscles in every film he creates and Browns is certainly no exception to that. I am also aware that Browns was written as a play well before Perry’s prior movies, and that may be why some of it feels rehashed. However, that doesn’t make it an excuse to drop originality. Though Perry may not have wanted to change, or do any major rewrites, it seems plausible that somewhere along the way he would have taken a moment to think about how this has all been done before, and spice it up with a little bit of that Perry originality we’ve all grown to love.
Which brings us to Madea, who's appearance here is much more of a cameo than anything else. While the scene is funny, it's truly only funny for those who have a relationship already with Ms. Madea. Her character, as always, is brilliantly funny and Perry truly has so much fun playing her that is shows each moment she/he's on screen. However, she was completely underused here and while I missed her in Daddy's Little Girls, it would have been nice to see her give Brenda a thorough talking to over her reaction to Harry and his past. Madea has always been the strong, family backbone who tends to hammer the message home. Her connection to Leroy could have opened up all kinds of possibilities here, and I think it was a large mistake not to include her. Admittedly, it does keep one highly anxious for her return in Perry's next Madea Goes to Jail, which I've been told by several sources, happens to be Tyler's funniest work yet.
The movie isn’t nearly as bad as critics have lampooned it to be, which typically tends to be the case with almost all of Tyler’s work. I’m baffled as to why critics are so harsh on his films. They tend to portray intelligent, African-Americans who are religious and care about their families, as well as focusing on doing the morally right thing. Why is that so hard for critics to enjoy?
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