Film Review--Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Diary of a Mad Black Woman
directed by Darren Grant
written by Tyler Perry
based on the play by Tyler Perry
starring Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Shemar Moore, Tamara Taylor, Cicely Tyson, Tyler Perry,


Life takes a bit of a turn for Helen (Elise) who assumes she had her husband Charles (Harris) figured out. After eighteen years of marriage, she certainly didn’t suspect him capable of any real surprises anymore. Yes, their marriage is really a sham but it seems to her to be a temporary glitch and nothing worth worrying herself over. Charles takes a different tack and boots her out of the beautiful house he’s financed illicitly back in the day when he was a thug. Now he is a respected lawyer who has decided its time to move on so he has the maid pack up everything that belongs to Helen and sends her on her way. Helen falls on her ass and the film is all about how she picks herself up again.

The film focuses on Helen’s life and the struggle she undertakes to make it her own. We see her take a job as a server and before we can blink she finds a man who wants nothing more than to love and protect her. They are a Christian couple who keep it clean and Helen mentions in a voice over to her diary that she is glad they didn’t have sex because he gives her something more valuable which is intimacy. Helen is damaged but she learns quick. She toughens herself up and gains considerable emotional strength. Her vitality comes into play the more she is with her new man Orlando (Moore) and he genuinely seems interested in her. Of course complications ensue which tear them apart but if you’ve ever seen a film of this nature then you know what to expect by the end.

Madea (Perry) makes an appearance here and she’s as feisty as ever with her gun and her low tolerance for idiocy. Again, she is a lunatic invention who brings necessary levity to any scene she’s in. Madea is necessary to this film because otherwise it threatens to slip into bad soap opera mode. It’s the performances in the end that save it and these characters all retain a certain level of strength that serves them all in the end. Everything centers around Madea’s house as she ends up taking Helen in after the blowup with Charles. It’s party central with Madea’s foul mouthed brother Joe (Perry) who seems a bit sauced most of the time although he never takes a drink. Medea keeps the cool with her sharp observations and genuine disregard for manners and politeness. Medea is the rollicking spirit that every one possesses but most keep locked up.

Perry introduces another spent character in the form of Debrah (Taylor). She’s got kids but she’s way more into shooting up so her husband Brian (Perry) gets fed up and won’t let her back in the house. Debrah certainly plays the part of a junk-fiend as her hair and face are all distressed like junkies are and she has the same tendency to twitch slightly and look in every direction as if something is coming to snatch her away. She is the character who, as in all Tyler Perry plays and films, will be redeemed at some point in the production. So, one can spend much of the film just anticipating when this fine moment will occur because we all know it’s going to happen eventually.

There is a sense of parenthood in this film as junkies clearly do not make good moms and are rightly punished for their acute inability to put their kids (let alone, God) at the top of their list of things to seriously care about. Family is promoted as something to fall back on when times are exceedingly difficult but not something you can fully expect to help raise you out of the gutter you are in. It can help but it can’t do all the work and Helen realizes this as soon as she steps out the door and takes the job at the restaurant. It takes her a few months to finally start to feel a bit more at ease with the condition her life is in. She struggles through a maze but gradually makes it out on the other side. This film is mainly about the ways that the world one must inhabit sometimes throw things at you that you cannot anticipate and the only thing to do is to get right back up and thank God you are still alive.

God in this film comes mostly through the church that all the central characters attend. There are songs of praise and a tremendous uplift but the film as a whole is more secular. The characters (seemingly with the exceptions of Madea and Joe) are all Christian but in this film their faith doesn’t stand out all that much.

The performances in this film are all fine enough for this material. Kimberly Elise slowly unveils her character’s transformation from a dutiful yet empty wife into a woman of more emotional solvency who can make her own decisions and take charge of her life. Elise captures the essence of her character and allows the viewer to gradually come to accept the many steps she takes to become the character at the end of the film who has much more of it figured out. Steve Harris plays it cool in this film until the moment that his character’s world drastically changes and he’s forced to see things in an entirely new way. Harris brings a relatively nuanced character into fruition and conveys many of the shortcomings his character possesses with ease. Tyler Perry plays three characters in this film and they all add a considerable sum to the film’s total. As Joe he’s playful and filled with a strange joy. As Medea he’s brusk, aggressive, and completely without a sense of propriety. As Brian, he’s a calm center of being that serves the courts and plays a vital role in the economy. He’s a good father who is forced to take care of two children because the wife is incapable of doing the job. Brian represents the type of upstanding man who can be relied on and believed in. In that regard, he’s much like Orlando (Shemar Moore). Moore’s character is definitely a contrast with Charles. He’s loving, attentive and utterly transfixed with Helen. Moore plays him with an essence of gentle strength that comes through in his posture and gestures.

Overall, this film captures the essence of a certain type of domestic existence. The characters all seem real and vital and there is a tremendous energy to some of the scenes. It plays well as the story of one woman who decides she simply cannot go on living the same way. In this sense it’s inspirational to anyone who has been slammed down into the dirt and who imagine themselves too weak to pull themselves up. Through work and determination, this angry black woman eases into herself and finds a quiet solace that emerges when the cobwebs clear and she begins to see things for how they are and not how she wants them to be. Clarity is rewarded in this film and it is shown to be a process that takes time and a great deal of care. It cannot simply appear overnight and is often the product of an intense struggle followed by a period of letting go.