Meet The Browns

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: March 21, 2008

DVD Release Date: July 1, 2008

Plot 411: A woman takes her three children from Chicago to Georgia to meet the father she's never known for the first time at his funeral.

Review: This is another Tyler Perry great. He's cornered the market on African American family dramas with a twist of romantic comedy. All of his films deal with real-life hardships that happen to good Christian people. Despite the fact that his movies are always loaded with moral lessons, he doesn't get too preachy. His plots are all authentic and people are able to see their own lives in these movies. In Meet The Browns, Brenda (Angela Bassett) is having a hard time making ends meet for her and her three children. She loses her job and her power is shut off. Things couldn't look any worse than they are. She receives a letter informing her that her father has died and some bus tickets to Georgia. She's never met the man before but decides to go down and pay her respects. When she gets there, she meets her extended family, including her half sister Vera (Jenifer Lewis) and two half brothers Leroy (David Mann) and L.B. (Frankie Fasion). Lewis and Mann steal the show with all of their outrageous antics. They will make you crack up! I love Lewis in particular because she's so damn obnoxious. Bassett, as always, is wonderful and amazingly slips from one emotion to the next. She makes Brenda seem so real and alive. She pulls the audience in and we connect with Brenda. We're Brenda champions - with her every step of the way.

Watch It: If you like Madea films. She makes a great cameo in this one.

Skip It: If you're looking for a true romantic comedy. This one's a tad on the serious drama side.