Madea's Big Happy Family
Lionsgate | Release Date: April 22, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
6
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckApr 22, 2011
The film is best appreciated as a showcase for the hugely popular titular character, with Perry tearing into the role with hugely entertaining comic gusto. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGlenn WhippApr 25, 2011
That there is little difference in tone between the end credits gag reel and the previous 100 minutes represents a triumph of consistency that Burt Reynolds, even in his heyday, never achieved. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazineTodd GilchristApr 22, 2011
So satisfying and surprisingly fun. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanApr 22, 2011
While I was watching Madea's Big Happy Family, I couldn't deny that it PLAYS. Madea, as always, is a figure of towering low-down wit. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreApr 22, 2011
Stuffed to the gills with Perry's mix of the sacred and the silly and a serious dose of self-help for the self-absorbed. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderMichael WilmingtonApr 27, 2011
Like most of Perry's movies, this one oscillates wildly and shamelessly between raunch and pathos, leaving plenty of room for the performers to work. The lively ensemble includes a scene-stealing Cassi Davis as pothead Aunt Bam. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAndy WebsterApr 25, 2011
This time the suds outweigh the humor, and to its credit Mr. Perry's script doesn't duck tragic consequences. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyMelissa AndersonApr 26, 2011
Too lazy (and, it seems, cynical) to give his audiences any more than he thinks they want, Perry appears to have given up on making a coherent movie altogether. Read full review
50
TimeRichard CorlissApr 25, 2011
The movie proved to be an exasperating, fitfully enjoyable jumble of Perryana, full of insult humor, a gospel choir and, not to give too much away, plot elements borrowed from "Chinatown," "Precious," "Imitation of Life" and "Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke" - all restitched and Tyler-made. Read full review
50
VarietyJoe LeydonApr 23, 2011
Another lumpy mix of broadly played ethnic comedy, deadly serious soap operatics, and aggressively rousing religious uplift. Picture may help him reconnect with faithful fans. Read full review
45
MovielineMichelle OrangeApr 22, 2011
As an insult comic, Madea has gone the way of her low-hanging bosom. There's little pleasure in watching her go off, and Perry's direction is reliably drab: Sitcom setups dominate, with strange blown-out lighting occasionally swapped in for the flat tones of a WB soundstage. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinApr 22, 2011
Everything is pitched to jarring emotional extremes of good and evil, joy and pain, chitlin'-circuit broad comedy, and melodramatic speeches. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 27, 2011
Deathbed scenes and colonoscopy humor, Bible quotations and Maury Povich "Who Is the Real Baby Daddy" episodes: All cohabit with equal relevance in the world of Tyler Perry. Read full review
20
Time OutA. A. DowdApr 26, 2011
Epitomizing the shrill franchise's schizophrenic tonal shifts, Madea metes out Christian life lessons with one hand-and righteously bitch-slaps with the other. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 22, 2011
Perry's characters have always been drawn with broad strokes, as heroes or villains. In this case, all the villains are young women, and all the young women in this film-without exception--are monstrous. Read full review
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