“Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Aunt Agnes (Brendan O’Carroll)
Tyler Perry owns one of the great impersonations in cinema history. His Mabel “Medea” Simmons is a gigantic grandma to a bunch of wild-ass relatives who mostly, like her, say what they think regardless the cost. Her malapropisms are as out there as her character (even repeating her mistaking Ireland for Iran is funny each time, so invested in the authenticity of Madea as Perry is). When White Agnes’s “knickers” (above) is heard as “niggers,” chaos and mirth ensue.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming is a raucous comedy inducing laughter at each culturally-incendiary thought so well expressed by an almost totally Black cast who must have had a blast making this movie. Of course, director Perry has cast actors who know how to give a line that tips near the politically incorrect without crossing it but producing even laughs from this jaded critic.
I am struck at the ingenuity of a piece where a female cop wears her uniform to the graduation party of Madea’s grandson. Madea is beside herself at how much her neighborhood will react at seeing the police car that comes with that officer’s presence. Defunding police to beefing up police are simultaneously hidden under the surface of the witty lines as Madea tries to get her to move the car. How timely and considerate Perry is of issues that challenge both Blacks and Whites in these parlous times.
There are multiple cases of Perry’s offering divisive societal challenges including someone coming out of the closet in front of a conservative family, which turns out to be enjoyably accepting. Everyone wins in Perry’s picture, even the surly and antisocial, for Perry’s mantra is the need for love and acceptance in all lives.
Rarely does a motion picture make me laugh and think at the same time. Once again Netflix does it with its commitment to a Black filmmaker with wit and intelligence—and that’s just his writing because his playing the lead character is remarkable acting job for our remarkable times.
Tyler Perry’s A Medea Homecoming
Director: Tyler Perry (A Madea Family Funeral)
Screenplay: Perry
Cast: Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman)
Run Time: 1h 45m
Rating: TV-MA
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics, as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com
