Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Diary of a Mad Black Woman is a 2005 American romantic comedy drama[2] film directed by Darren Grant and written by Tyler Perry. Inspired by the play of the same name, it marks the debut feature film of Perry, in addition to being the first entry in the Madea film franchise. The film stars Perry alongside Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Shemar Moore, and Cicely Tyson. The film tells the story of a woman who is thrown out of her house by her husband on their 18th wedding anniversary as she moves in with her grandmother. This was the only film Perry wrote and did not direct.

For the play of the same name, see Diary of a Mad Black Woman (play).
Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDarren Grant
Written byTyler Perry
Based onDiary of a Mad Black Woman
by Tyler Perry
Produced byReuben Cannon
Tyler Perry
StarringKimberly Elise
Steve Harris
Shemar Moore
Cicely Tyson
Tyler Perry
CinematographyDavid Claessen
Edited byTerilyn A. Shropshire
Music byElvin D. Ross
Tyler Perry
Production
companies
Distributed byLions Gate Films
Release date
  • February 25, 2005 (2005-02-25)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5.5 million[1]
Box office$50.7 million[1]

Filming began on July 21, 2004 in Atlanta and Fairburn, Georgia. Diary of a Mad Black Woman was released theatrically by Lionsgate Films on February 25, 2005. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but it was a box office success, having grossed $50.7 million worldwide against a $5.5 million budget.

The sequel, Madea's Family Reunion, was released on February 24, 2006.

Plot

Helen Simmons-McCarter and her attorney husband Charles McCarter have money, success, and a fine home. Despite seemingly perfect lives, Charles is actually distant, verbally and physically abusive, and has been having multiple affairs, while Helen is unemployed, bored at home, and desperately trying to make her marriage work.

On the evening of their 18th wedding anniversary, Helen arrives home to find all her belongings in a U-Haul, and that Charles is abandoning her for his young mistress Brenda, the mother of his two sons.

Helen kicks the driver Orlando out of the truck and visits her intimidating grandmother Madea. Madea takes Helen in and helps her get back on her feet, upsetting Madea's brother Joe. Joe's attorney son Brian defends Madea and Helen after Charles and Brenda catch the pair breaking into and vandalizing the marital home. Judge Mablean Ephriam places Madea, a repeat offender, under house arrest and sets a $5,000 property or cash bond for Helen.

Brian kicks his addict wife Debrah out of their home, causing him to have a strained relationship with their daughter Tiffany who wants to join the church choir. Fearing that Tiffany will turn to drugs like her mother, Brian refuses until Madea convinces him otherwise, encouraging him to also fix his relationship with Debrah. Helen cultivates a relationship with Orlando. Meanwhile, career criminal Jamison Milton Jackson asks Charles to defend him in his trial for shooting an undercover cop during a drug deal. He gives Charles $300,000 for both attorney’s fee and to bribe the judge to rule in his favor, revealing that Charles received most of his money through drug deals and buying off judges.

In divorce court, Helen lets Charles keep all the money and property, provided he pay Brian's attorney fees and continue paying for her mother Myrtle Jean's stay in a nursing home since he made her place her there; Charles agrees to both terms. In the shooting case, despite Charles' efforts, the jury convicts Jamison. While being led out of the courtroom, Jamison snatches the bailiff's gun and shoots Charles in the back for failing to get him acquitted.

Orlando proposes to Helen. Before she can respond, she sees the shooting on the news and goes to the hospital with Brian. They encounter Brenda upon arriving. The doctor says Charles might be permanently paralyzed and asks if they should resuscitate him if things deteriorate. Brenda chooses to let Charles die, but Helen, still Charles's legal wife, tells the doctor to do everything possible for him.

Charles recovers, returns home with Helen, and resumes verbally abusing her, but Helen takes the opportunity to retaliate for years of neglect, verbal, emotional, and physical abuse by not only physically humiliating him, but also by revealing that Brenda finally showed her true colors by not only opting to let Charles die, but also by emptying his bank account and leaving with their boys during his hospitalization. She additionally reveals that their housekeeper Christina has left as well because Charles has no money to pay her, and that all of his friends, associates, and connections have abandoned him now that he has been left crippled and penniless.

Helen and Orlando argue when he learns she has moved back in with Charles to look after him, and he leaves heartbroken. Charles realizes his mistakes and apologizes to Helen, realizing that she was the only one who truly cared for him. He becomes a kinder man, while she helps him recover. He regains his ability to walk one day in church, where Debrah, now clean and sober after going into rehab, reconciles with Brian.

Charles hopes to start over with Helen, but during a family dinner with Madea, she gives him her wedding ring and signed divorce papers and tells him she will always be his friend. She finds Orlando, asks him to propose again, and accepts when he does.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released by Motown Records on April 19, 2005.

Track listing
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Purify Me"India.Arie4:07
2."Sick & Tired"Monica4:19
3."Different Directions"Angie Stone3:39
4."Things I Collected"Tamia5:37
5."I Wanna Swing"Cheryl Pepsii Riley2:25
6."I Wanna Love Again"Chandra Currelley4:44
7."Fallen in Love"Darlene McCoy4:28
8."Ain't It Funny"Heather Headley4:03
9."One of Us"Cheryl Pepsii Riley3:31
10."I Wanna Be Free"Patti LaBelle4:56
11."Father, Can You Hear Me"Tiffany Evans, Cheryl Pepsii Riley, Tamela J. Mann, Chandra Currelley, Terrell Carter, & Anya Washington4:12
12."Take It to Jesus"Tamela J. Mann2:57

Release

The film was released on DVD and VHS June 28, 2005 by Lions Gate Home Entertainment.

Reception

Box office

On its opening weekend, the film arrived at number 1 on the box office rankings, with takings of $21.9 million. The film grossed an estimated $50.6 million in the United States and Canada, with an additional $19,000 internationally, for an estimated worldwide total of $50.7 million.[1]

Critical response

Professional film critics were mostly negative in their evaluation of Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 16% based on 115 reviews, with an average rating of 4.0/10. The site's consensus reads "Tyler Perry's successful play can't make the move to the screen; this mix of slapstick, melodrama and spirituality lacks a consistent tone."[3] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 36% based on reviews from 30 critics, which the site considers "generally unfavorable reviews".[4] Audience polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade, on a scale from A-F.[5]

Roger Ebert gave the film one out of four stars, arguing that the Madea character "is not remotely plausible [and] not merely wrong for the movie, but fatal to it." Ebert also wrote that Elise, Tyson and Harris offered effective performances and that "[t]here's a good movie buried beneath the bad one."[6]

Sequel

A sequel to the film, Madea's Family Reunion, was released on February 24, 2006.

References
  1. "Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. RED Interactive Agency. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman — TylerPerry.com". tylerperry.com. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  3. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  4. "Diary of a Mad Black Woman : Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  5. "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. Ebert, Roger (2005) Diary of a Mad Black Woman, accessed 23 February 2013 Archived 9 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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