LOS ANGELES – With the release of Lionsgate’s Madea's Big Happy Family, writer/director/star Tyler Perry offers a testament to the healing power of faith and family, told with his signature blend of laughter and pathos. At a time when many commercial films fit neatly into particular genres, Perry bucks the trend by combining broad humor and heartfelt drama, creating a world where physical comedy, sight gags and caricature intertwine with deeply felt stories about loss, abuse and broken lives. It’s a balance that, in the director’s opinion, is not unlike life itself.
“Comedy is all around me,” says Perry. “Even in some of the most serious situations, even in some of my greatest sadness, I find something to be joyful about. That’s why my films are the way they are. The audience wants to laugh. They want to have a little drama or melodrama. So I just love going all the way in both directions. And with Madea I can do that.”
“Tyler understands the healing power of humor,” says producer Reuben Cannon, who produced Perry’s first film, Lionsgate’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman in 2005 and has been part of Perry’s team ever since. “Sometimes to get the truth across, you can do it more effectively while they’re laughing.”
Madea, everyone’s favorite wise-cracking, take-no-prisoners grandma, jumps into action when her niece, Shirley, receives distressing news about her health. All Shirley wants is to gather her three adult children around her and share the news as a family. But Tammy, Kimberly and Byron are too distracted by their own problems: Tammy can’t manage her unruly children or her broken marriage; Kimberly is gripped with anger and takes it out on her husband; and Byron, after spending two years in jail, is under pressure to deal drugs again. It’s up to Madea, with the help of the equally rambunctious Aunt Bam, to gather the clan together and make things right the only way she knows how: with a lot of tough love, laughter…and the revelation of a long-buried family secret.
Madea's Big Happy Family marks Perry’s eleventh film production in approximately six years. In that short span, he’s outpaced every other writer/director making films for theatrical release, produced hit television shows and built his own 200,000 sq. ft. studio facility in his hometown of Atlanta. But as the latest work in a steady stream of entertainment emerging from Tyler Perry Studios, Madea's Big Happy Family holds special significance for the film magnate. “I wrote the play that the movie is based on as an homage to my mother who had passed away,” explains Perry. “Now I’m just really excited about having an opportunity to use this movie as my instrument to get through my own grief. Writing this story has helped me a great deal. And to be able to use something so tragic for me and pass it on to someone else and make them laugh, I have joy. It’s a good feeling.”
Also see: Madea's Big Happy Family Premiere Red Carpet Photos
- Comment
