Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black 2024 Movie Review
Typical TP Storytelling: Tyler Perry offers nothing nuance in this sing-song presentation of life through a very “Hallmark Movie Channel” lens. The story brings nothing new or adventurous to the viewer. Just another TP soap opera story that doesn’t even try to reinvent the same two characters that TP loves to revisit over and over again. The beaten, battered woman against an absolutely evil man. There is nothing heart-warming or exciting about this story, though I think TP believes he wrote some very exciting moments. But the reality is that he simply wrote another version of the many movies he’s done that cater to women who constantly suffer in intimate relationships. He tries to find triumphant moments that the viewer can celebrate in, but he does such a poor job at setting those moments up on strong foundational writing and character development, that we are once again, left with a fish-like FLOP!
TERRIBLE writing: I can’t express how disappointed I was in the way that the writing of this film absolutely demolished any possibility or opportunity for the seasoned actors/actresses to really sink their teeth into their characters. Every character and the situations they are put in is so POORLY written that no actor exists on the planet that could save it. The pubescent dialogue between characters, the cliched moment set ups, the overt extreme characterizations just create a whirlwind of less than mediocre viewing. The writing skill level is still that of a very young, uneducated writer who’s using his pen and paper to express his inner thoughts and feelings. It lacks maturity, development, foundational building and structure. Tyler Perry not only needs to invite skilled writers into TP Studios, but he needs to go to school himself, and take courses on proper writing and story-telling.
Non-existent Character Development: Characters in this film simply exist. They don’t develop or grow. What you see from the beginning is what you get all throughout the film. So many parts and pieces of each person is missing from the story, so as a viewer you never feel connected to anyone because you don’t understand why they do what they do, how they got where they are or where they could be going if change occurs. They are simply there. There were moments I tried to cling to in order to connect to any given character, such as a moment between Ava and her mother Gene, where Gene has found a letter detailing the abuse that Ava has endured throughout her marriage to Dallas. They share in a sincere moment of Mother and daughter grief and reconciliation. The moment is even closed with a funny joke when the Dad enters and finds them crying. However, the moment leaves no lasting impression because of the lack of background the viewer has been given. There were no previous moments to guide us to this moment and tell us more about Ava’s relationship with her Mother, why her mother feels like she’s failed or how Ava developed into becoming an abused wife. It just happens, then it’s over and we’re moving on…
Poor “Silent Characters”: Another issue here is the set design and character realization. The set designs stuck out like a sore thumb… it’s as if the set designer was given a completely different script to reference in order to create their design. The home of Ava and Dallas looks NOTHING like their characters. It was too polished and put together. We are supposed to believe that Dallas is essentially a poor, country boy who is not only ignorant in attitude, but comes from an ignorant, poor family, yet his home looks like something you’d see in House and Garden. Ava, is supposed to be a battered, manipulated woman but again, their home looks like she spends plenty of time and money in Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrell. To add to this strange dichotomy, the characters themselves don’t match. With Ava, we’re given this scene where she’s “down-talking” herself, pointing out that she’s almost 40 years old and feels so “unattractive” while we the viewers are looking at a glamor girl. Ava is absolutely beautiful as played by Meagan Good. She dresses well and keeps herself put together like that of a very confident woman. She wears well-done makeup, seems to keep up with getting her hair and eyelashes done and keeps herself in perfect shape… there is nothing about her that feels like we need to feel bad or concerned for her, she looks like a very well taken care of, kept woman. Dallas is supposed to be very homely, having grown up in very poor conditions with a terrible family life. I don’t remember hearing what he does for a living, only that he had to go to work, yet he seems to have a lot of free time to pop up EVERYWHERE at any given time! He dressed well, but his hair stays unkempt and he has gold teeth in his mouth (not the cool kind worn for style, but the kind you get when you can’t afford real veneers at the dentist).
A waste of good actors/actresses: The last thing that I’ll deal with is the complete waste of good acting that occurs in this film. While the entire cast wasn’t great, I feel like certain actors exhibited the ability to really shine in this film. Richard Lawson does a good job at playing the loving but no-nonsense father of Ava. He is protective of his family and is a good stand up man. I thought his acting showed that he is a veteran and that he understood the character he was playing. Debbie Morgan ALWAYS delivers!!! She is an exceptional actress who always becomes whatever character she is given. She was wonderful at being the loving, cute mother of Ava who also is protective and wise. Though Debbie and Richard both did the best with what they were given, a good script with proper story telling could have really excelled their performances. One who really stuck out to me was Dallas, played by Cory Hardrict. I think Cory showed so much promise in this role as the angry and unemotional husband to Ava. He had some one-liners that in a great script would have become movie gold, like, “…I’ll slap yo nose off!” but the terrible lines that surrounded his ad libs were to poorly written, so they felt forced. His character was the most under-developed. He was just “the mean guy” with no reason or rhyme to why. Meagan Good did what I feel she does in most of her roles. I feel she’s sub-par for as long as she’s been acting. Moments like the moment where she’s supposed to be “fed up” with Dallas and is dragging him out of her house while going off, felt very forced. I personally didn’t feel like she pushed herself or attempted to really pull anything out of her character beyond what was written on the page, which is what I feel she does in most of her roles. She’s definitely no Viola or Taraji. (I can imagine how strong Taraji would have acted out that same moment I just described, it would have been completely different if she’d have been the actress to play Ava.) Joseph Lee Anderson who played Benji was a typical TP addition. He seemed new to acting and didn’t give much of anything, add on TP’s terrible writing, and what you get is a performance as flat as a coke left out overnight. Taylor Palidore Williams was another good performance. Though her character got on my nerves at some moments, I liked her portrayal of her and felt like she did the character as much justice as she could with TP’s stereotypical writing.
Overall, this film was far too long to give us what it gave. It was what we all have come to expect from Tyler Perry, which isn’t much. I think we all continue to watch because 1. We’re hoping for the diamond in the rough to show up and blow us away, and 2. Tyler always does a great job at using some of the best black actors and actresses to attract us to his films like moths to a bug zapper. We know we’re about to get zapped to our own death, yet the glow is so attractive we must go toward the light. I watched Mea culpa because I wanted to support Kelly Rowland and see what she did with the film, I watched this because I wanted to support Cory Hardrict as a not-as-known actor and because the caliber of the likes of Debbie Morgan and Richard Lawson made me think I was stepping into that special film that was going to be different… but once again, I was dooped!
But TP’s tricks are growing old and weary. The next one I will probably definitely NOT WATCH until I hear rip-roaring reviews because I absolutely REFUSE to continue to waste my life, my ear gates and my eye sockets on this foolery!
