Writer-director and star Tyler Perry has given his alter ego Mabel “Madea” Simmons a sweet and funny valedictory as she organizes a family funeral and dispenses relationship wisdom to younger family members caught in the pain of infidelity. It’s an immensely satisfying story that returns to the formula of Perry’s successful stage plays. Madea spends most of the movie seated and firing off blunt ripostes, as if Perry — who, in addition to Madea, also plays her brother Joe, Joe’s son Brian, and a new character, legless throat-cancer victim Cousin Heathrow — is reluctant to let her go without allowing her to share everything she has on her mind.
Watch out for: An adultery theme, mature references, including to sexual activity and drug use, some sexual humor, fleeting crude banter and three racial slurs.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA: PG-13
