''Madea's Family Reunion'' is a 2006 American

comedy-drama 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 ...

film and an adaptation of the stage production of the same name written by

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 filmma ...

. The film is a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to '' Diary of a Mad Black Woman''. It was written, directed by, and starring Perry with the rest of the cast consisting of

Blair Underwood Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film ''Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''. Underwood has a ...

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield (''née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

, Boris Kodjoe,

Henry Simmons Henry Oswald Simmons (born July 1, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2014–2020) and Baldwin Jones in the ABC police drama s ...

Lisa Arrindell Anderson Lisa Arrindell is an American actress. She is most known for her role as Vanessa in ''Madea's Family Reunion'' (2006), Heather Comstock in the series '' In the House'' (1995), and Toynelle Davis in ''Livin' Large'' (1991). Early life and educatio ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

Rochelle Aytes Rochelle Aytes is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as April Malloy on ABC drama series ''Mistresses'' (2013–16) and as the voice of Rochelle in the critically acclaimed video game ''Left 4 Dead 2'' (2009). Aytes al ...

, Jenifer Lewis, Tangi Miller, Keke Palmer, and

Cicely Tyson Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson recei ...

. The film tells the story of Madea preparing for an upcoming family reunion while dealing with the dramas before and during it. It was released on February 24, 2006, nearly one year following its predecessor, ''Diary of a Mad Black Woman''. The

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

was produced by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

. ''Madea's Family Reunion'' received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing $63.4 million worldwide against a $6 million budget.

Plot

After Madea (

) violates the terms of the

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if al ...

she was subjected to in the previous film, in order to get Joe (

) some medicine, Judge Mablean Ephriam orders her to take in a rebellious foster child named Nikki ( Keke Palmer) in order to avoid jail. At first, Madea and Nikki clash due to the latter's bad attitude and disrespect, stemming from her poor life up to this point, including an absent father, a mother in jail, and a slew of uncaring foster homes. However, Madea tells her that the only way to really overcome her poor life is to work hard and strive to be better than the people who wronged her. Nikki takes Madea's words to heart and gradually reforms her behavior over the course of the film. Lisa Breaux (

), one of Madea's grand-nieces, is engaged to Carlos Armstrong (

), an

abusive Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

and controlling

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

. While Lisa desperately wants to get out of the engagement, her conniving gold-digging mother Victoria (

) urges her to go through with the wedding, coordinated by Milay ( Jenifer Lewis), telling Lisa to avoid doing things that make Carlos angry. Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), Lisa's older sister and the other of Madea's grand-nieces, who lives with her, has two children fathered by two different men, neither of whom are involved in their children's lives; Victoria regularly degrades Vanessa for this, even referring to her grandchildren as "bastards". With some effort, Vanessa is successfully wooed by poetry-spouting bus driver Frankie Henderson ( Boris Kodjoe), who is the single father of a young son, and has a passion for painting. As much as Vanessa likes Frankie, she is emotionally closed-off and has a difficult time trusting him. Lisa eventually leaves Carlos, with the intention of calling off the wedding, temporarily moving in with Madea. Carlos, eager to move forward with the wedding, dispatches Victoria to bring Lisa back to him. Victoria confronts Carlos about the abuse, suggesting that insecurity about his masculinity is causing him to act out and that he needs counseling. Carlos counters this by suggesting that Victoria is controlling every aspect of her daughter's life because she wants to make up for all of the shortcomings in her own. It is then revealed that Victoria, with Carlos's assistance, has stolen from Lisa's trust fund over the years, leaving virtually no money left, and is now encouraging Lisa to marry Carlos in order to keep up her livelihood. Carlos makes it clear to Victoria that he will not bail her out unless the wedding goes forward. Victoria goes to Madea's house to fetch Lisa, only to end up in a passionate argument with Vanessa, who has become aware of Carlos's abuse and is eager to protect her sister. During the confrontation, Vanessa reveals a shocking secret to her younger sister: Victoria allowed her second husband, Lisa's father, to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

Vanessa in order to keep him in the marriage. Vanessa states that the

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

occurred on a regular basis after that, which as a result, left her closed-off emotionally and unable to trust the men in her life, including Frankie. Even more shockingly, Victoria makes no attempt to deny Vanessa's accusations. Instead, she rationalizes her actions, telling her daughters that they would have been destitute if Lisa's father had left, and that after going through a previous divorce with Vanessa's father and working two jobs to support the family afterwards, she was tired of struggling and felt that she deserved better. She also reveals that her own mother, a prostitute and

drug addict Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

, regularly traded her for "ten dollars and a fix", essentially almost mirroring what she'd done with Vanessa and Lisa's father. Victoria then states that she would not allow Vanessa to ruin her happiness, and that she would not apologize for the choices she'd made. She then turns on a horrified Lisa, demanding that Lisa begin taking care of her financially as she made sure that Lisa had the best of everything while she was growing up. Vanessa then derides Victoria for constantly controlling her and Lisa as her punching bag and puppet, respectively, and how it has left her a mess; she vows not to let the pain and suffering her mother has subjected her to over the years hold her back any longer, and to break their family's tragic cycle by embracing the true love that she has found with Frankie and being a better mother to her own children. Victoria then leaves and later lies to Lisa, telling her that Carlos has agreed to counseling. At the family reunion held at the home of 96-year-old Aunt Ruby (

Georgia Allen Georgia Williams Allen (May 12, 1919 – January 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was active from 1949 to 2006, beginning in local theater before progressing to both television and movie roles. Early life Allen was born in Beaumont, Texas ...

), Vanessa and Victoria get into another verbal confrontation, which eventually turns into a physical fight after Victoria insults Vanessa regarding her relationship with Frankie. Then, Victoria screams at the top of her lungs, in front of the entire reunion, that she never loved Vanessa. Punches are thrown by both women. The fight is broken up when Aunt Ruby, Madea's daughter-in-law, Myrtle (

), and Ruby's daughter Aunt May (

) gather the family members to an old slave shack where the family's ancestors grew up. Ruby express disappointment at how the family has turned out. Myrtle gives a long speech, persuading them to act lovingly towards each other and themselves. Lisa eventually returns to Carlos and resumes her wedding plans. On the day of Lisa's wedding, Madea tells her that it is time for her to stand up to Carlos and fight back. When he arrives at Madea's house, he asks that he and Lisa be alone. Madea asks Carlos if he'd like something to eat, and tells Lisa to give him some grits on the stove, noting to her that they're ''hot''. When Madea leaves the house with Nikki and Joe, Carlos brutally slaps Lisa in the face. In retaliation, she throws the pot of hot grits in his face, scalding him badly, then beats him with a cast iron frying pan as Madea listens outside with laughter. Lisa takes off her engagement ring and throws it at an injured Carlos before leaving. At the church, Lisa announces to the family members and other guests that Carlos had been beating her every day since they first got engaged and that the wedding is off. Victoria sarcastically states to Lisa that she feels sorry for her, but Madea states that everyone here feels sorry for Victoria and tells her to find her own life instead of continuing to live through Lisa. As Milay expresses disappointment that her work will now be wasted, Frankie then asks Vanessa to marry him. She says yes and they're married at the church instead. At the reception, Victoria tells Vanessa that she and Frankie are a beautiful couple and they hug, signifying the first steps in a possible reconciliation.

Cast

as: **

Mabel "Madea" Simmons 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 word ...

, a tough old lady. ** Joe Simmons, the brother of Madea. ** Brian Simmons, a lawyer who is the son of Joe and the nephew of Madea. *

as Carlos Armstrong, a controlling investment banker who is loosely based on Ronnie from the stage play. *

as Victoria Breaux, a gold-digging woman and a niece of Madea. * Boris Kodjoe as Frankie Henderson, a bus driver who is also a poet, and later marries Vanessa. *

as Isaac, a nephew of Madea who is antagonized by Joe when he was repairing Madea's lawnmower. *

as Vanessa Breaux-Henderson, the grand-niece of Madea and daughter of Victoria who falls for Frankie after two bad relationships, and eventually marries him. *

as Aunt May, a cousin of Madea. *

as Lisa Breaux, the grand-niece of Madea and daughter of Victoria who is to be engaged to Carlos. * Jenifer Lewis as Milay Jenay Lori, a wedding planner. * Keke Palmer as Nikki Grady, a girl who Madea takes in. * Tangi Miller as Donna, the love interest of Isaac and sister of Brian. *

as Aunt Myrtle, Madea's daughter-in-law * China Anderson as Nima, the daughter of Vanessa. * Akhil Jackson as Jonathan, the son of Vanessa and the younger half-brother of Nima. * Alonzo Millsap as Tre, the son of Frankie. *

as Aunt Ruby, a 96-year-old aunt of Madea who is the mother of May and Sarah. *

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 sinc ...

as Aunt Sarah, a cousin of Madea and the sister of May. * Leon Lamar as Grover, a cousin of Madea and Joe. * John Lawhorn as Uncle Pete, a cousin of Madea and Joe. *

Afemo Omilami Afemo Omilami (born December 13, 1950) is an American actor. Early life Omilami was born in Petersburg, Virginia on December 13, 1950. Afemo has not made any public reference to his paternal background, however his name has ties to the Yoruba co ...

as Isaac Sr., the father of Isaac and cousin of Madea and Joe. * Mablean Ephriam as Herself * Deanna Dawn as Tyrequa * Enoch King as Hykeem * Jennifer Sears as an unnamed female at the family reunion. * Tre Rogers as an unnamed young man at the family reunion. * Elizabeth Omilami as Aunt Clara, a relative of Madea. * Nicholas Ortiz as Himself * Johnny Gill as a wedding singer * David Wiebers as Wedding Trumpeter * China Anne McClain as Youth (uncredited)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released by

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

on February 21, 2006.

Release and reception

Box office

''Madea's Family Reunion'' was budgeted at $6 million and opened at #1 in its opening weekend (2/24-26) with $30,030,661 and eventually grossed $63,257,940 in North America with an additional $50,939 internationally, tying $63,308,879 worldwide after 9 weeks in theaters. Small independent filmmaker Tyler Perry has garnered one of the highest wide-release openings to date in 2006, in both gross ($30 million) and screen average ($13,687). "The number one movie is ''Madea's Family Reunion'', a small comedy/melodrama which grossed an astounding $30.3 million from 2,194 venues. It had a super-hot venue average of $13,787...." "Playing at 2,194 locations across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, the film averaged a remarkable estimated $13,788 per screen, demonstrating the enormous breadth and depth of Perry's audience. The debut weekend of ''Madea's Family Reunion'' outperformed the opening weekend of Lionsgate's first Tyler Perry film, '' Diary of a Mad Black Woman'', by nearly 40 percent." To illustrate the point, Lions Gate's

exit poll An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for ...

s showed 52 percent of the audience were black women over the age of 35.

Critical response

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 Wan ...

it has an approval rating of 26%, based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 4.50/10. The site's consensus reads "Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion is sincere in its positive intentions, but leaves something to be desired as a film." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a score of 45% based on reviews from 18 critics, 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.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2006 films 2006 romantic comedy-drama films Films set in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in Atlanta Films about domestic violence American romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Tyler Perry African-American films American sequel films Lionsgate films Films with screenplays by Tyler Perry 2006 directorial debut films 2006 comedy films 2006 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films