Madea's Family Reunion 2006

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: A generally enjoyable mess. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Family Reunion doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy or a drama and ends up as mostly a melodrama with scenes that would be embarrassing on a soap opera. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: No question, Tyler Perry knows what he's doing, and he's doing it better with each movie. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Though Perry's films are hard to defend on aesthetic grounds -- the crazy shifts in tone from operatic melodrama to broad comedy could cause seizures -- it's equally hard to begrudge the underserved audiences who embrace them so passionately. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: Nothing that happens seems the least bit believable, and everything is brash and loud. All that's missing is the laugh track. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Some parts of Tyler Perry's new movie are better than others -- and all of it is better than Diary of a Mad Black Woman, his last one. Read more

Christy Lemire, Deseret News, Salt Lake City: At times it feels as if Perry made three separate films, dumped them in a blender and hit the puree button. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Let's not sell Tyler Perry short. As the vinegar-witted Madea, he's a drag performer of testy charm, but in his overlit patchwork way he's also making the most primal women's pictures since Joan Crawford flexed her shoulder pads. Read more

Dallas Morning News: Read more

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly: For his revolutionist's passion and for allowing Tyson to once again fill the screen with her glory, Tyler Perry is my new hero. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: There's a ragged road-show texture to Madea's Family Reunion, which, along with the rest of the movie, would be easy to dismiss if one didn't suspect that it might be calculated. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Goodwilled? Sure. Good filmmaking? Lord no. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Like horror flicks or family films, Tyler Perry's Madea movies -- based on his enormously successful plays -- are a genre unto themselves, which means one thing: Either you are going to see them or you are not, and no review will change your mind. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: Anyone curious about all the fuss surrounding Perry is advised to track down a DVD of one of his stage productions; Madea, his big mama, is not working on the big screen. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: I'm just not on the guest list. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: The heavily melodramatic tone that predominates throughout much of the pic could have used more leavening with comic relief. Read more

Jim Ridley, Village Voice: Perry's vaudevillian shamelessness and indifference to committee-approved taste are energizing and frequently jaw-dropping. Read more