Tyler Perry has been making feature films since 2005, when he directed, produced, and wrote a movie adaption of Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The movie helped catapult him in front of a wider audience, with more eyes on the promising talent. Throughout the journey, Perry’s stories have evolved into lightning rods for polarizing takes on the Black experience.
Some folks celebrate the New Orleans-born creative for his knack for bringing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Black life to cinema. Shayne Lee, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Houston, celebrated his 10th year anniversary as a filmmaker in an op-ed for HuffPost in 2015, anointing him “among the pantheon of today’s greatest cinematic innovators.” Others have leveled Perry’s work for what they have perceived as stereotypical portrayals of Black people. Spike Lee infamously called the imagery in Perry’s films “troubling” during an interview with Black Enterprise in 2009. And with the release of his latest film, Divorce in the Black, reviews were more Spike Lee than Shayne Lee.
So much so, that the movie currently sits at a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Tyler Perry recently responded to these critics, calling them “highbrow negroes,” during an appearance on the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast.
“I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” Perry emphatically told Palmer. “Because for everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of—used to be—emails from people saying, ‘This changed my life. Oh my God, you know me. Oh my God, you saw me. How did you know this about my life and my family?’ That is what is important.”
“Don’t discount these people and say that their stories don’t matter. Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get out of here with that bullsh*t.”
And Tyler Perry has a point. While critics are currently panning the movie, the Rotten Tomatoes audience score sees the movie differently, giving Divorce in the Black a 75%.
VIBE takes a look at other “highbrow” critic reviews to uncover the best and worst-reviewed Tyler Perry movies, via Rotten Tomatoes.
‘Divorce in the Black’ — 0%
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Divorce in the Black was released July 11 on Prime Video, and stars Megan Good and Cory Hardrict as a couple who has recently split. Ava (Megan) is a banker whose marriage to an abusive husband, Dallas, falls apart. As Ava attempts to move on, Dallas vows to make her life hell.
Tyler Perry‘s most recent film is by far the worst-reviewed by Rotten Tomatoes critics, with the picture currently sitting at 0%. Critics eviscerated the film, criticizing everything from the acting to the lighting and the storytelling, flat-out calling it Tyler Perry’s worst movie.
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What the critics said: “When you see a title like Divorce in the Black appear underneath a Tyler Perry byline, you assume this is more not-so-clever wordplay that clumsily states the obvious: a woman takes her no-good ex to the cleaners before riding off into the sunset. But this new Amazon Prime feature doesn’t just fail to live up to that billing. It’s easily his worst film to date”
—Andrew Lawrence, Guardian.
“Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black feels pieced together from several conflicting scripts, making it almost impossible to follow the film’s weighty emotional throughline. What could be a sincere take on the experiences of people in cycles of abusive relationships becomes a story that pivots in tone so many times it’s hard to take seriously.”
— Mary Kassel, Screen Rant
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t find some moments of entertainment. Perrys direction and tone is all over the place but putting my criticism aside, compared to some of his recent movies, this is way more tamed and somewhat narratively competent.”
— Elliott Collins, Movie Files
‘Boo 2! A Madea Halloween’ — 5%
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Boo 2! A Madea Halloween hit theaters in October 2017 as the tenth entry in the Madea cinematic universe. Following the first movie’s events, Tiffany, played by Diamond White, takes a trip to the infamous Derrick Lake for her 18th birthday party. Upon hearing the news, Madea (Tyler Perry), Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), and Hattie (Patrice Lovely) embark on a journey to save her from the horrors of the locale.
On a $20–25 million budget, the film made $48.3 million, which saved it from being a box office failure. However, critics did not hold back on this movie, as it finished with a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, Tyler Perry was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, an award given to the worst movies of the year, for best actress. And won.
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What the critics said:
“One can only hope Perry will move on to another holiday and perhaps take the effort to reconnect with the crazy old-lady persona that has served him so well. Until then: Oh hail, no.”
— Steve Davis, The Austin Chronicle
“If nothing else, and there really isn’t much else, this feature provides a startling glimpse into the interiors of Perry’s imagination. Though he pulls triple duty on screen by appearing as Uncle Joe, a living dispenser of one-liners about weed and ass, his estimation of youth culture has all the alarmist naïveté of an after-school special.”
— Charles Bramesco, AV Club
‘A Fall From Grace’ — 17%
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A Fall From Grace was released in January 2020 and featured Bresha Webb as the main character, Jasmine Bryant. The film finds Bryant convicted of murdering her husband, but her lawyer, a rookie in the field, believes that a sinister plot may be conspiring against her. Tyler Perry‘s thriller was also the last on-screen performance by the great Cicely Tyson before her death the following year. Unfortunately, the movie was panned upon release, with A Fall From Grace receiving a rating of 17% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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What the critics said:
“Tyler Perry’s (terrible) new Netflix movie A Fall From Grace makes it clear that it’s time he started collaborating with artists who actually have something to say.”
—Michael Blackmon, BuzzFeed
“With little to no character development, cringeworthy writing, and nonsensical plot developments, A Fall From Grace completely misses an opportunity to highlight an important issue, and unlike Perry’s Madea films, A Fall From Grace doesn’t even have any comedic value to save it.”
— Noëlle Lilley, Chicago Reader
‘The Family That Preys’ — 53%
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The Family That Preys was released in September 2008. The film focuses on two families in contrasting living conditions—one lower class and the other wealthier. The matriarchs of the family, Charlotte, played by Kathy Bates, and Alice, played by Alfre Woodard, maintain a great friendship despite the economic differences. However, as secrets and lies spill out, the families find themselves at a crossroads.
Taraji P. Henson won Best Actress at the BET Awards for her performance in the movie as Pam. However, much like other Perry movies on this list, this movie received mixed reviews.
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What the critics said:
“Perry may not be dealing with race issues, but he still writes everything in black-and-white.”
— Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
“Though the movie at times flowed like a soap opera with its dramatic turns and pregnant pauses, it kept your attention.”
— Candice Frederick, Reel Talk Online
“The suds that cascade through [the film] more than equal the cubic footage from nighttime soaps like Dallas, Dynasty and their offspring. As the movie proceeds, the flow quickens into a surging flood tide of recriminations and reversals in which blows are exchanged, claws bared and tears shed…The Family That Preys doesn’t worry about how it gets from A to Z. There is no problem that a miraculous (and preposterous) plot development can’t resolve in two minutes.”
— Stephen Holden, The New York Times
‘I Can Do Bad All By Myself’ — 61%
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I Can Do Bad All By Myself may seem like it debuted on BET with how much it plays on there, but it was actually released in theaters first in September 2009. The film arrived four years after Tyler Perry‘s directorial debut, and while it shares the name of Perry’s play, it differs in plot. The movie starred Taraji P. Henson as an alcoholic lounge singer named April, whose niece and nephew Madea persuaded her to take in.
IMDB reports that the movie was created on a $19 million budget and grossed $51.7 million. As for the critics, well, they were mixed on the affair. Some folks praised the movie for Perry’s emotional depth displayed in the movie, while others complained about the film’s shallowness.
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What the critics said:
“Lurches around for nearly two hours before concluding that all its heroine needed all along was a good (and hunky) man and Jesus.”
— Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress
“If the Atlanta impresario is just bored with cranking out two adaptations a year of his earlier stage work, the audience is getting restless, too.”
— Melissa Anderson, Village Voice
“Too pat by a half during the finale, but Tyler Perry shows a maturity as a filmmaker that would pave the way for arguably his best picture, 2010’s “For Colored Girls.”
— Dustin Patman, The FilmFile
‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ — 65%
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A Jazzman’s Blues debuted on Netflix in September 2022 and starred Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer as the star-crossed lovers. The film follows Bayou (Boone) and Leanne (Pfeiffer) in a tale of forbidden love. Navigating through forty years of secrets, deceit, and lies, A Jazzman’s Blues takes viewers through a ride of love tested against all odds.
The movie snagged a 65% Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics calling attention to the beauty Tyler Perry can achieve when he “applies himself.”
What the critics said:
“And A Jazzman’s Blues proves that when Perry applies himself in a particular fashion, his work can stand entirely on its own.”
—Glenn Kenny, Roger Ebert
“Perry has accomplished tonally, artistically and dramatically all he needed to do with this rich melodrama. No wrinkles. No mistakes. It’s as if he wanted to tuck his Madea madness away and become an auteur. Is this a fleeting moment or a new direction?”
—Dwight Brown, Dwight Brown Ink
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