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HomeNewsArchivesMarital Dramas Abound in 'Why Did I Get Married?'

Marital Dramas Abound in 'Why Did I Get Married?'

Oct. 31, 2007 — Exactly what is Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married?" It depends on your point of view. It's based on his hit stage play "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."
"Tyler Perry's movies could start doubling as a churchy day spa for black celebrities," says Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe. "Your star lacking luster? Career on the wane? Black America generally thinking twice about you? Or do you just want a juicy movie role that honors your dignity? Call Tyler. Or rather: Pray he'll call you."
Caroline Kepnes in E Online says, "Watching 'Married' isn't just a helluva lot more fun than reading a self-help, it's a helluva lot more enlightening."
It's the story, adapted from Perry's stage play, of eight married college friends who reunite for their annual retreat in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado, where they come expecting fun and relaxation but get a completely unexpected surprise. Career-driven Dianne (Sharon Leal) and her supportive but fed-up husband, Terry (Perry, himself), are joined by popular psychologist and best-selling author Patricia (Janet Jackson) and her architect husband Gavin (Malik Yoba), who share a secret that finally comes to light.
Also on board are Angela (Tasah Smith) and Marcus (Michael Jai White), who argue but stay in love. Then, there's Sheila (singer Jill Scott) who has weight issues not helped by her philandering husband Mike (Richard T. Jones). Add in Sheila's girlfriend, Trina (Denise Boutte), who is secretly sleeping with Sheila's husband, and Troy (Lamman Rucker), an ex-Wall Street stockbroker who has put his career on hold to care for an ailing father.
Whew! You got all that? OK.
"The characters don't make consistent sense," Morris says. "How a few of these marriages ever happened in the first place is something even Perry would have a hard time explaining."
However, he says, "The fun of a Tyler Perry movie is watching it with a fully engaged audience. (When it comes to him is there any other kind?)"
Scott comes in for high praise from Geoff Berkshire in the Chicago Tribune, who says she gives "a pretty terrific performance as a plus-sized woman trapped in a loveless marriage." He continues, "She elevates the film every time she's on screen, confidently establishing herself as a actress worth watching."
Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly has a lot to say about the ladies, especially Scott.
The movie "turns into 'The Big Chill' by way of Jerry Springer," he says. "Perry is of the spell-everything-in-capital-letters and act-it-out-loudly school. Yet his sensitivity to women is a tonic."
He continues, "Amid the shout downs over adultery, male power and the agony of coping with a child's death, one performance glistens — Jill Scott as the heavyset Sheila, who locates the faith that's the source of love."
So it's more than an evening's entertainment. You might just learn something about the human heart, wounded or joyful.
It's rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual references and language. It runs almost two hours.
It is playing at Market Square East.

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