When you look at the scores on IMDB for Tyler Perry movies you’ll notice one thing, which is that almost all his movies have a score of 4 or lower. Despite this fact he has made a lot of movies, is succesful and even Oprah Winfrey recommends his films. So why do the movies receive such low scores? For Colored Girls is not the first Tyler Perry movie I’ve seen. I’ve seen the movies starring Perry himself as Madea and Why Did I Get Married Too. One thing is clear with these movies, which is that it’s obvious that they have their own target audience. I should have looked at the title more closely and read it as a manual.
For Colored Girls tells the story of several women who all have their own issues. One of them has problems with her daughters, one has an abusive husband, another one has a man who can not be trusted and some other with their own problems. As is usually the case with these type of movies all these problems are related to each other (how improbable it is).
The movie is based on the play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which consists of 20 poems. Perry has decided to use these poems in the movie, which result in some kind of “spoken wordical” (instead of a musical). It is a concept which just doesn’t work and it doesn’t surprise me it’s something that has not been used in other movies (if they do exist, I don’t know them). It’s already a bit weird when people in a musical suddenly start singing, but in this movie two characters are just talking to each other and suddenly one starts reciting a poem. As a viewer the spell of the movie is broken by it, as it feels so weird. Not everyone will immediately notice it, but during the second part of the film it becomes more and more obvious.
Even though this type of movie doesn’t work it does have some good performances. Whoopi Goldberg is excellent and Anika Noni Rose is very convincing in a scene in which she’s crying about what happened to her.
I’m definitely not part of this movies target group and will not recommend watching it. It’s better to read the title of the play, as it exactly describes the target audience. It’s also a good movie for those searching for a lot of drama. For everyone else it’s better to skip it.
Score: 3
definitely read the play. because the movie is not just for Black women. It’s about–as the play would describe more clearly–women of many different colors, shades, assets. Tyler Perry did a brutal job with the script, but this movie does indeed have fantastic performances throughout, as you pointed out.
I’ll admit that I probably won’t be reading the play but can imagine that it is a story that appeals to many women as universal subjects are talked about.