I Can Do Bad All by Myself
Lionsgate | Release Date: September 11, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
5
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
It's probably the impresario's best-made movie yet, his most joyful, and his most moving. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
It’s the best Tyler Perry movie to date - the writer/director/actor/mogul’s most confident and competent mixture of uplifting black middle-class melodrama and low-down comedy. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A double shot of Saturday-night lowdown chased by a cheery chug of Sunday-morning uplift. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
What works best, though, is that it's practically an R&B/gospel musical. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
With Bad, Perry is savvy enough to let riveting musical numbers by ringers like Gladys Knight and Mary J. Blige--along with Henson’s deeply empathetic performance--carry the film’s feverish emotions more than his characteristically ham-fisted screenplay. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Perry also spices things up with two of his most reliable fallbacks: music, and Madea. Having packed his cast with singers, he allows them all a moment to shine, with songs that deliver his patented lessons (trust in yourself, trust in others, trust in God). Read full review
60
VarietyPeter Debruge
Perry's latest emotional roller coaster starts with considerable promise and a high-wattage cast, including Taraji P. Henson and singers Gladys Knight and Mary J. Blige, before giving way to melodramatic predictability. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
Part musical, part love story, part family melodrama, part inspirational treacle, Tyler Perry's latest movie, I Can Do Bad All by Myself is something of an unholy mess. Alternately stupefying and entertaining, the film does benefit from a strong cast. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNeil Genzlinger
Mr. Perry has his moviemaking machine running smoothly, which is to say somewhat predictably. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
This latest offering continues a trend toward increasingly mature moviemaking from the actor/writer/director. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyMelissa Anderson
Has so many dead moments that singing spots by Gladys Knight, Pastor Marvin Winans and Mary J. Blige simply highlight, rather than alleviate, the inertia. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderCliff Doerksen
Contrived, sentimental, tonally bipolar, and as predictable as clockwork. Read full review
20
Time OutNick Schager
The laughs, meanwhile, are delivered by cross-dressing Perry’s sassy grandma Madea, whose wild threats of violence to children and adults alike are the only things that sporadically lighten up this narratively and grammatically dim redemption pap. Read full review
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