''Madea's Big Happy Family'' is a 2011 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

based on

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...

's 2010

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

. It is the 11th film in the Tyler Perry film franchise and the sixth in the ''Madea'' cinematic universe. Tyler Perry reprised Madea and Joe, and the other cast members include

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of ''Dreamgir ...

, Shad "Bow Wow" Moss, David Mann,

Cassi Davis Cassandra Davis-Patton (born July 31, 1964) is an American actress best known for her role as Ella Payne on ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' and its spin-off series ''The Paynes''. She is also known as Aunt Bam in the ''Madea'' franchise since ...

Tamela Mann Tamela Jean Mann (née Johnson; born June 9, 1966) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, and actress. Mann began her career as a singer with the gospel group Kirk Franklin and the Family. She was a featured soloist on several tracks while wit ...

Lauren London Lauren Nicole London is an American actress. London is known for her roles in films and televisions shows including '' ATL'' (2006), ''This Christmas'' (2007), '' Madea’s Big Happy Family'' (2011), ''Baggage Claim'' (2013), '' The Game'' (20 ...

Isaiah Mustafa Isaiah Amir Mustafa (born February 11, 1974) is an American actor and former American football wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character in a series of Old Spice television commercials, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like". He ...

Natalie Desselle Natalie Ann Desselle-Reid (July 12, 1967 – December 7, 2020) was an American actress who performed in several films, including ''B.A.P.S.'', ''Def Jam's How to Be a Player'', '' Set It Off'' and ''Cinderella'', and the television series '' Buil ...

Rodney Perry Rodney Perry (born September 15, 1970 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is most known for serving as co-host on Black Entertainment Television, BET's late night talk show ''The Mo'Nique Show'' where he provided ...

, and

Shannon Kane Shannon Elizabeth Kane (born September 14, 1985) is an American actress best known for portraying her roles as Traci Madsen on the Nick at Nite series '' Hollywood Heights'' (2012) and Natalia Fowler on the ABC daytime soap opera ''All My Child ...

. It tells the story of Madea finding out that her niece is dying from cancer. Madea gathers her niece's children and their family members together to deal with the news while contending with the different issues between them. ''Madea's Big Happy Family'' received generally mixed reviews from critics, but it was a box office success, grossing $54.2 million worldwide against a $25 million budget.

Plot

When

Madea Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons (née Baker/Murphy) is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman. Madea is based on Perry's mother and his aunt. In Perry's own words ...

’s niece, Shirley (

), visits Dr. Evans (

Philip Anthony-Rodriguez Philip Anthony-Rodriguez is an American actor known for his roles on ''Jake 2.0'' as Kyle Duarte, the voice of disc jockey Maurice Chavez in the 2002 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', and as Jetstream Sam in the 2013 video game '' Me ...

) with Aunt Bam (

), she discovers her cancer has gotten worse and she may only have a few weeks to live. She invites her children to dinner to tell them all at the same time. Cora Simmons (

) and her father Leroy Brown ( David Mann) are also at the hospital where a colonoscopy on Mr. Brown shows a growth that needs to be removed surgically. Meanwhile, Madea (

) furiously and violently drives her car through a restaurant named Snax because the manager had delayed taking her order until after the restaurant had stopped serving breakfast for the day. The manager had been preoccupied with a phone call and had been very rude to Madea when she called her out on it. When Shirley's children, Byron ( Shad "Bow Wow" Moss), Tammy (

Natalie Desselle-Reid Natalie Ann Desselle-Reid (July 12, 1967 – December 7, 2020) was an American actress who performed in several films, including ''B.A.P.S.'', ''Def Jam's How to Be a Player'', '' Set It Off'' and ''Cinderella'', and the television series '' Buil ...

), and Kimberly (

) arrive for dinner, they end up having various arguments amongst themselves and their partners. Byron's ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, Sabrina (

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Shumpert ( Taylor; born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Afterwards, she choreographe ...

), arrives, calling Byron a "''

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by ...

''" due to him having been one in the past before being caught and incarcerated. She also lies excessively, uses her son's child support money and supplies for herself, and tries to goad Byron back into selling drugs so she can get more money for herself in the process. Moreover, she also turns out to be the manager of Snax. With all of the drama and arguing that ensues at dinner, Shirley does not get the chance to tell the family about her cancer. More drama amongst the family members continues, including Byron being arrested for failing to pay

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

, Cora discovering that Mr. Brown may not be her real, biological father, and Byron realizing that he is actually Kimberly's son. Over time, Shirley's condition worsens greatly, and she is taken to the hospital where she later dies. At the reception that followed, Madea confronts the family, making each of them resolve their individual issues with each other. Madea, Mr. Brown, and Cora appear on ''Maury'' to find out if Mr. Brown is in fact Cora's father. Madea insists that he is, but it turns out he is not after a brief argument on said issue. This shocks Madea, who runs off-stage, sobbing hysterically.

Cast

as: ** Mabel "Madea" Simmons, Shirley’s tough aunt and grandaunt of Shirley’s children. ** Joe Simmons, the brother of Madea *

as Shirley, the niece of Madea and Aunt Bam * Shad "Bow Wow" Moss as Byron, an, ex con, and the son of Shirley and a grandnephew of Madea and Aunt Bam, later revealed to be her grandson (as well as Madea and Aunt Bam’s great-grandnephew) and Kimberly’s son from being raped by her uncle *

as Cora Brown, the daughter of Madea * David Mann as Leroy Brown, the supposed father of Cora Simmons *

as Betty Ann "Aunt Bam" Murphy, the cousin of Madea and the aunt of Shirley *

as Renee, the gold-digging girlfriend of Byron *

as Kimberly, a real estate agent, the daughter of Shirley, a grandniece of Madea and Aunt Bam, and the biological mother of Byron upon being raped by her uncle *

as Calvin, the husband of Kimberly *

as Tammy, the daughter of Shirley, a grandniece of Madea and Aunt Bam, and co-owner of an auto-repair garage *

as Harold, the husband of Tammy and co-owner of an auto-repair garage * Steven Wash Jr. as H.J., the elder son of Tammy and Harold, as well as a grandson of Shirley, and a great-grandnephew of Madea and Aunt Bam * Nicholas Milton as Will, the younger son of Tammy and Harold, as well as a grandson of Shirley, and a great-grandnephew of Madea and Aunt Bam * Benjamin 'LB' Aiken as C.J., the son of Kimberly and Calvin, as well as the grandson of Shirley, and a great-grandnephew of Madea and Aunt Bam *

as Sabrina, the nagging ex-girlfriend of Byron and manager of Snax *

as Dr. Evans, a doctor who oversees the medical treatments of Shirley and Mr. Brown *

Palmer Williams Jr. Palmer Williams Jr. (born 1965) is an American stage and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Floyd Jackson on both ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' and the sitcom ''Love Thy Neighbor (U.S. TV series), Love Thy Neighbor''. Career ...

as Mr. Mills, the manager of Lam Co. Imports * Ron Grant as Pastor Jackson, a pastor who oversees Shirley's funeral *

Chandra Currelley Chandra Currelley-Young (born August 30, 1961) is an American actress and singer. Currelley has done extensive work with director and writer Tyler Perry, and has played many roles in his various productions and several stage plays. In all of h ...

as Sister Laura; the actress also portrayed Shirley in the original stage play. *

Maury Povich Maurice Richard Povich (born January 17, 1939) is an American retired television personality, best known for hosting the tabloid talk show '' Maury'' which aired from 1991 to 2022. Povich began his career as a radio reporter, initially at WWD ...

as Himself, he hears the different cases of Sabrina and Cora

Release

Box office

''Madea's Big Happy Family'' was released on April 22, 2011. It pulled in $25,068,677 on its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office behind ''

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

''. By the end of its run, the $25 million film grossed $53,345,287 in the United States.

Critical reception

The film has received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 42 reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 38% with an average rating of 4.60/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gave the film an average rating of 45 based on 15 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an A grade.

Home media

''Madea's Big Happy Family'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on August 30, 2011. The DVD features four featurettes: "''By-reen: The Baby Mama from Hell''", "''Ties That Bind''", "''Madea's Family Tree''", and "''Brown Calls Maury''". The Blu-ray contains these features as well as a

digital copy A digital copy is a commercially distributed computer file containing a media product such as a film or music album. The term contrasts this computer file with the physical copy (typically a DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, or Ultra HD Blu-ray disc) with ...

.Amazon.com: ''Madea's Big Happy Family'' (Blu-ray)
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madea's Big Happy Family 2011 films 2011 romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Tyler Perry African-American films American films based on plays Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Lionsgate films Films scored by Aaron Zigman Films with screenplays by Tyler Perry 2011 comedy films 2011 drama films Films about dysfunctional families 2010s English-language films 2010s American films