| I Can Do Bad All by Myself | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tyler Perry |
| Screenplay by | Tyler Perry |
| Based on | I Can Do Bad All By Myself by Tyler Perry |
| Produced by | Tyler Perry Reuben Cannon |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Alexander Gruszynski |
| Edited by | Maysie Hoy |
| Music by | Aaron Zigman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million [1] |
| Box office | $51.7 million [2] |
I Can Do Bad All by Myself is a 2009 American romantic musical comedy-drama film which was released on September 11, 2009. The film was directed, produced, and written by Tyler Perry, [3] who also makes an appearance in the film as his signature character Madea. [4] The rest of the cast consists of Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodriguez, Brian White, Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight, and Marvin L. Winans. Although the film and play share the same title, the film is not an adaptation of Perry's play of the same name, the two works have different storylines as this film tells the story of an alcoholic lounge singer who is persuaded to take the custody of her niece and nephews by Madea after she catches them breaking into her house and their grandmother has gone missing. Both are named for a lyric in the Changing Faces song "G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.". It is the fifth film in the Madea franchise. I Can Do Bad All by Myself received generally mixed reviews from critics.
April is one of the established employees of Club Indigo, whose most prominent role, is singing.
Meanwhile, Madea and Joe Simmons are attempting to sleep in their respective bedrooms, while hearing glass shattering and other noises. Madea attempts to wake up Joe, before the pair notices, how there are actually robbers who had entered into their house. One of the robbers accidentally dropped the VCR onto the floor, after Madea scares the robber. In response, Madea and Joe physically assaults the robbers, because of the VCR belonging to Joe. When the pair calm down, Madea turns on the lights, and noticed how the robbers are actually children, who appeared to be struggling. After April finishes her singing performance, Madea and Joe are seen in their kitchen, with Jennifer, Byron, and Manny with them. While Byron and Manny are eating, Jennifer and Manny expresses their recent backstory, with Madea and Joe expressing their various views of the current occurrence which had just happened. The mother of the children is revealed to had been dead for periods, while the grandmother had been missing for, what had been reported to be, four days. When no other available figure is revealed to be available, their one Aunt is considered the only option.
The same night, April is finished with her performance, and is speaking with her colleague, Tanya. When April questions about on her boyfriend Randy, Tanya appears to be bothered. April takes alcoholic bottles, and accesses the vehicle-traveling street to get to her residence, even ignoring the fellow homeless figure who she claimed she already gave money to. April is revealed to reside with Randy, who is already married to his wife who is named, Janice. When the pair get notice, on how Janice is expecting another child with Randy, April expresses to Randy, how she still chooses to be with him, exchanging in kissing. The following day, Madea brings the children, to their Aunt, who is actually April. Madea tells April of the robbery, and after the tense conversation, April reluctantly brings on children inside her house. In this same period, Pastor Brian is doing work in the facility of his church establishment, which is near the residence of April. He sends Sandino, a Colombian immigrant who happens to also work in Handyman services, while arriving to the workstation, in which Pastor Brian is doing. Meanwhile, Pastor Brian and the others, noticed Jennifer chasing from one of the employees of the Drug Store. When it is found how Jennifer was stealing needles, Wilma, another church figure notices her, and tells Pastor Brian how she knows Rose. Pastor Brian brings Jennifer to April to tell the news of stealing, in which April assumes, Jennifer is replicating the acts of her mother. The pastor sits with April, and tells how Rose is aging, and appears gradually weaker, while raising the children. He also indirectly tells April who Sandino is, and requests on how Sandino can physically repair the house, in which, the father of April had left for her to inherit. After Pastor Brian leaves the residence, Sandino subsequently arrives to the house, and ordered to reside in the basement, because of April having various views of him. While working around the house, Sandino surprises April with physical facial makeover. Randy arrives to the house, and sees April with the kids, while heckling Sandino and making advances to Jennifer.
The children returns to Madea, to clean around the house setting, in repayment for their robbery. Later during the same night, Wilma arrives to the nightclub, to sing, in which she dedicates the song to April. Meanwhile, Madea questions Jennifer, on the reason of her consistent angry persona, while attempting to avoid being heavily stern with her. When Jennifer give the reasons, Madea tells her, how Jennifer would become the form of "bitter old women" if her persona remains consistent. Joe takes this opportunity to use the words Madea gave, and turn it into fat shaming to Madea. When Jennifer responds in quiet laughing, Madea quickly uses this, to encourage Jennifer to continue smiling, in order to be the opposite of the angry persona. Later during the night while April is still in Club Indigo, Madea drives the children in her Cadillac back to the house April resides in. Upon arrival, Sandino gives Jennifer the insulin prescription for Manny, in which Jennifer feels distrustful in how Sandino is. Sandino tells Jennifer, she should expect more individuals to give kindness to her.
The following day, Sandino begins renovating one of the bedrooms for the children to have use of, and this distracts April and Randy who are both sleeping. April arrives to the scene, with she and Sandino in conversation. Sandino tells April, of how damaging her relationship is with Randy, and questions if she is ruthless because of the relationship. This conversation occurs before Pastor Brian and Wilma subsequently arrive to the house. The pair announces to April, how Rose is actually deceased, having died around one week prior, due to the brain aneurysm she had while on traveling on the city bus, which is revealed to had been while she was going to her job. In the morgue, Rose was not unidentified under the city, which eventually led to cremation, when she was considered to be "dead," for prolonged periods.
While it is raining outside, April goes to Randy, and hugs him on his backside, in response to finding out of her mother being dead. Randy does not find the chance to hear of the occurrence, and quickly shrugs April off, while he is trying to sleep on the bed. In result, April comes to Sandino for comfort. April tells Sandino how the mother of the children, sold Jennifer for crack, had put Byron in the oven she was using, and burned Manny with smoking pipe, in which their grandmother would save them whenever they were in damaging and dangerous occurrences. April notes, on how her mother prompted her to babysit the children during one occurnce, when April gave reasons on how she could not, this caused Rose to respond to April in anger, which led April and Rose to not be connected to each other for over one year before Rose unexpectedly died.
After April and Sandino reveals to the children of how their grandmother had died, Jennifer goes to the front porch of the residence of Madea, who quickly assumes, Jennifer is about to steal. Jennifer tells the news of how her grandmother had died, and the fear she have of her brothers lacking the proper caregiving. After she tells Madea of how she feels, she is the only one who can take care of her brothers, and other remarks, Madea softly and calmly encourages her. Jennifer tells, how her grandmother would speak on prayer, without heavily being detailed on how to. Madea, onto the request of Jennifer, began attempting her prayer. Inexperienced with prayer, Madea gives several stories from the Bible, in which, are combined into her own created and confusing narratives.
Later the night, Tanya prompts April to officially take in the children, to be in her care, and to realize how her present actions bring urgent effects. Tanya responds to this, with the titular song, in which April receives the imagination of the death of her mother, among giving other quiet reactions to the song performance. April returns to the house, where she sees Jennifer cradling and rocking Manny, who is weak and frail from his blood sugar reaching its limit. April frantically tells Jennifer, how she cannot raise them. Jennifer, in distress, tells how she felt she had lacked the abundant childhood, while feeling forced to raise her brothers, and mockingly tells April, how she would daringly resemble her when she "grow up?"; in the manner of being selfish. Later the night, Tanya continues her performance of the song, inside the nightclub setting.
The following day, April and Sandino goes on the lakeside paddle boat ride, and questions April of her relationship Randy. When the pair returns, Sandino overhauled the ruined bedroom in her house, to the expressed joy of Manny and Byron. This, however, allows Jennifer to still feel rejected by April, and orders her brothers to leave the bedroom. One Sunday morning, Sandino knocks on the bedroom door which April and Randy uses, with Randy being bothered, and tells Sandino of his forbidden of April attending church service, and even sends Sandino death threat if he once again knocks on the door. In dismay, Randy attempts to expressing his forbidding to April from attending the church service, with April still choosing to attend. April and Sandino, alongside the children, attends the church service, where Pastor Brian is giving sermon, and subsequently ministers in singing, with the choir joining along. April to responds to this, when she quietly sing one of the verses, while Sandino notices. April, during the Pastor and Choir singing, also have flashbacks of the concealed destructive elements of her relationship with Randy, which had been shown offscreen, alongside other flashbacks, including with Sandino and Tanya. Pastor Brian subsequently prompts Wilma to also come and sing.
The night, following the church service, all of the children are asleep on the couch, with Jennifer noticing Manny night sweating while he is audibly struggling to sleep. She goes to the kitchen to get his insulin, and preparing to have it in effect. Randy surprisingly calls her name while sitting nearby, and began making advancements to her and while sneakily claiming how he welcomes Jennifer and her brothers in. When Jennifer knows he is still making advancements, and in fear, expresses for Randy to stop. Randy responds and attempts to rape her inside the kitchen, before Sandino sneakingly hits his head with construction wood. When Randy struggles to escape being beaten, Sandino continues to fight him off, before April arrives. April, in fear, urges Sandino to stop beating Randy, and questions on the scene. Sandino to tell April how Randy attempted to rape Jennifer, but Randy frantically claims how Jennifer had physically prompted sex in order to receive money, with Sandino and Jennifer repeatedly telling April, how Randy is the one who commenced the scene. When Randy questions, on who April believes, she calmly tells Randy "you, baby." She subsequently tells Randy to get in the nightclub to ease effects from the fight. Subsequently, April gives the reacting stare to Jennifer, while Jennifer who is uncontrollably sobbing while in serious hysterical reaction, tells the opposite of the occurrence. April is in deep quietness, while walking upstairs. When Manny and Byron sees Jennifer crying, the pair comforts her in the kitchen. April arrives to the bathroom, and questions Randy on he scene, while he is in the bathtub water. When Randy gives the same response he gave earlier, April subtly snickers in sneakiness, before briefly leaving the bathroom. Randy expresses his displeasure in the children having to reside in the house, and how he only desires for April to reside with him. April returns with radio and plugs it into the bathroom wall socket, and continues to question Randy again. Threatening to electrocute Randy, April gradually aligns the radio to be closer to the bathtub water when she receives the same response. Randy chooses to no longer express his endorsement of the actions, and begins to argue with April. Sandino hears the pair arguing, and enters into the scene. April reveals how she dealt with the same or similar occurrence, in which the boyfriend of her mother, named Lee, framed April of being the culprit of one scene, while it was actually him who initiated the scene. When Lee told Rose on how April initiated the scene, she openly chose to believe Lee, rather over April. Sandino calmly tells April how Randy is "not worth" the dangerous treatment, and tells her, "Put the radio down. Please?" April questions the words Sandino gives, in the ruthlessly slick, mocking, and tone, and actually proceeds to allow the radio to actually go "down" into the bathtub water. April lifts up the radio, while Randy and Sandino yellingly orders for her not to, only for the radio to be released and dropped into the bathtub water. The radio short circuits with heavy smoke and flashing electricity, in which Randy collapses onto the floor when attempting to escape the bathtub. After the radio is totally damaged and Randy collapses, April looks in shock and disbelief of how she nearly killed Randy, and quietly leaves the setting. Sandino still chooses to be confrontational to Randy, warning him to escape from the house in the amount of three minutes.
April goes to the nightclub to drink and reacts in difficult somber, traumatized from the occurrence. When Sandino arrives, April in despair, and questionably tells Sandino on her worry of him leaving Randy alone, when he was already in his near-death condition, showing how April did believe she went insane in nearly killing Randy. Sandino softly and brutally tells her how he already took the keys from Randy, and forced him to be banned. April depressingly exclaims, how she should had known the signs of Randy being like the boyfriend of her mother, and tells how her mother had enforced the norm of "What Happens In This House, Stays In This House," and in tears, expresses how the healing cannot come into fruition, when trauma is hidden. She shrugs off Sandino, who is attempting to comfort her and tell her it was not her fault of not knowing the signs. April quickly questions if Sandino have history of child molestation, because of the notable attention he gives to her nephews and neice. The pair argues, while April taunts Sandino with the questions and the claims, while leaving the nightclub setting. Sandino yells to April, of how she is mentally unstable from her conditions, and he proceeds to explain his childhood, in which he had the role of child laborer which began when he was of the age of 7 years, while being physically beaten while hungry and tired, and then being forced to recruit to be in the role he was in. He tells April, how it effects him when he sees her nephews and neice, also in their lone-state and overtly difficult conditions, and how he had been trying to help them since he was essentially ignored in his childhood. In response to this, Sandino chooses to diverge connections from April.
April arrives to the house after the occurence, and tells Jennifer how Randy had been banned from the residence, with Jennifer expressing appreciation for April for believing her. April tells Jennifer of the mentioned stare. When Jennifer begs April with notable pleas to let her and her brothers reside with her, April expresses her regrets of her own actions, and announces to Jennifer, of how her and her brothers are welcomed to reside with her, with April and Jennifer hugging. Periods later, Sandino returns to the house, to give his speech to the children on him needing to distance from April, with the Sandino. Jennifer tells April how Sandino is needed, while mentioning the narrative Madea had given of various stories in the BIble. April reacts in laughing, when Jennifer tells how of how Madea gave the stories, with April expressing how she even knows the blend of truth and lies in the narrative. Meanwhile Altar Call is being held in the Church service, April overhears the singing, and begins to sing along, reminding her of one of the "acceptable" qualities she remembers of her mother. April spends her period, attempting to "clean up" her persona, before Sandino returns periods later. April apologizes to him and admits that she loves him in the same manner of, standard friend. Sandino tells April how cannot love anyone until she learns to love herself, and should also learn to love others properly. When the pair admit to each other of how they are in love with each other, the pair exchanges with kissing.
Periods later, April and Sandino get married. April and Sandino then hold a block party for their reception, after the wedding had been held in the church setting, with Tanya singing in the actual Block Party.
The film features 13 songs, [5] including two new songs by Blige. Perry was not able to produce a soundtrack album for the film due to the various record companies involved.
I Can Do Bad All by Myself received mixed reviews from critics, becoming his most acclaimed film, until 2021's A Jazzman's Blues . [6] Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 62% approval rating based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's consensus states: "Though somewhat formulaic and predictable, Perry succeeds in mixing broad humor with sincere sentimentality to palatable effect." [7] Metacritic reported that the film has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. [8]
Entertainment Weekly 's Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the movie an "A−" grade, saying, "After a summer of phony, pasty rom-coms, do this: See a movie where old-fashioned notions of love, faith, strength, and the possibility of redemption are taken seriously." [9] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe called the film "overlong but well-shaped and involving", praising Perry for finding a balanced mix of "earnest soap opera moralism with [his] comic instincts", calling it his "most confident and competent mixture of uplifting black middle-class melodrama and low-down comedy." [10] Cliff Doerksen of the Chicago Reader said about the film: "Contrived, sentimental, tonally bipolar, and as predictable as clockwork, this latest from chitlin' circuit impresario Tyler Perry is just a fat slab of ecstatic entertainment." [11]
Rob Humanick of Slant Magazine felt the film was a great gateway for people not familiar with the "scabrous antics and homegrown moralizing" delivered by the Madea character, saying that Perry lends his creation a more "greater level[s] of tonal consistency" than his previously contradictory Madea Goes to Jail , writing that "I Can Do Bad acknowledges Madea's flaws with loving scrutiny, and doesn't require approval of her more selfish attributes." [12]
Randy Cordova of The Arizona Republic was critical of Perry's filmmaking for delivering lengthy musical numbers and overlooked story elements but gave praise to the performances of Henson and Wilson for showcasing his ability to "create meaty roles for women." [13] The A.V. Club 's Nathan Rabin gave the film a "B−" grade, praising Henson's performance and the "riveting musical numbers" by Knight and Blige for emitting more "feverish emotions" to the film than Perry's "characteristically ham-fisted screenplay", concluding that "His oeuvre has always been shameless and over the top, but Bad might just be the first of Perry’s films to border on operatic." [14] Kimberley Jones of The Austin Chronicle criticized Perry for prolonging the film's conclusion but gave him credit for bringing "increasingly mature moviemaking" to his production, highlighting the Madea scenes as being "pretty damn funny" and the performances of Wilson and Henson for being "nuanced and quite moving" and having a "likable screen presence" respectively. [15]
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