A Madea Family Funeral

A Madea Family Funeral
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tyler Perry
Written by	Tyler Perry
Produced by	Ozzie Areu Will Areu Mark E. Swinton
Starring	Cassi Davis Patrice Lovely Tyler Perry
Cinematography	Richard Vialet
Edited by	Larry Sexton
Music by	Philip White
Production company	Tyler Perry Studios
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release date	March 1, 2019 (United States)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million[1]
Box office	$75.8 million[1]

A Madea Family Funeral is a 2019 American comedy film written, directed, and produced by Tyler Perry. It is the eleventh installment of the Madea cinematic universe, and stars Perry in several roles, including as the titular character, as well as Cassi Davis and Patrice Lovely. The plot follows Madea and her friends as they must set up an unexpected funeral during a family get-together in Georgia.

The film was released in the United States on March 1, 2019. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics but grossed over $75 million worldwide. This is the last film from Tyler Perry to be released by Lionsgate, with Paramount Pictures and Netflix taking over distribution of future Perry films via his deal with ViacomCBS. A sequel, A Madea Homecoming is set to be release in 2022.^[2]

Plot[]

The children of Vianne (Jen Harper) and Anthony (Derek Morgan) are planning a surprise party to celebrate their parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Madea (Tyler Perry), Joe (Tyler Perry), Brian (Tyler Perry), Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), and Hattie (Patrice Lovely) travel to backwoods Georgia for the anniversary party. On the way, they deal with a manic, rude police officer (Joel Rush) which they are surprised when he acts nice all of a sudden. At last they get to their hotel--and catch Anthony in a sex act with Renee (Quin Walters), Vianne's best friend. In the next room is Anthony's son A.J. (Courtney Burrell)--with Gia (Aeriél Miranda), his brother Jesse's fiancée. Anthony suffers a heart attack from his activity with Renee and is rushed to the hospital, where he is pronounced dead.

A.J. and Madea's group keep the exact cause of death from the rest of the family. Renee and A.J. blackmail each other to keep their secrets hidden and A.J blames Renee for his father's affair and death. But Renee responds saying "I’m not the one to be played with".

Vianne asks Madea to plan Anthony's funeral and says she wants to have it in two days, which makes everyone suspicious. The undertaker (Aryeh-Or) at the funeral gives Madea, Bam, and Hattie a creepy vibe and informs them that Anthony died smiling and that the casket can't close because of Anthony's erection. At the funeral, numerous mistresses from Anthony's past show up, visibly upsetting Vianne, and the service lasts for hours until the casket abruptly opens (for the aforementioned reason).

At the repast, A.J. drunkenly reveals Anthony and Renee's affair and Renee exposes A.J.’s affair with Gia, which makes his wife Carol (KJ Smith), to whom A.J. had been disrespectful all weekend finally decide to leave him. A.J. and Jesse fight, and Vianne tearfully reveals that Anthony had been cheating for years and she only stayed with him to protect her family. But now she realizes it’s time to live for herself. When A.J. scolds her for being weak, she retaliates by saying he’s just a boy and spiteful to others making A.J. live up to what his actions to the people around him for the past week.

In the morning. A.J. tries to apologize and reconcile with Carol for all the pain he caused her hoping they get back together, only for her to decline and claiming she wants to live freely. Vianne happily wishes the family luck as she leaves for Las Vegas with Roy (Mike Tyson), revealing herself to be a cheater after all.

Cast[]

• Tyler Perry as:
  • Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly lady.
  • Joe Simmons, the brother of Madea.
  • Brian, the son of Joe and nephew of Madea who works as a lawyer.
  • Heathrow, the brother of Madea who is a war hero.
• Cassi Davis as Betty Ann "Aunt Bam" Murphy, the cousin of Madea.
• Patrice Lovely as Hattie Mae Love, a friend of Madea and Bam.
• Jen Harper as Vianne, Anthony's wife and Madea's granddaughter.
• Derek Morgan as Anthony, Vianne's husband.
• Courtney Burrell as AJ, Anthony and Vianne's oldest son.
• Ciera Payton as Silvia, Anthony and Vianne's daughter.
• Rome Flynn as Jesse, Anthony and Vianne's youngest son.
• KJ Smith as Carol, AJ's wife.
• Aeriél Miranda as Gia, Jesse's fiancée.
• David Otunga as Will, Silvia's husband.
• Quin Walters as Renee, Anthony and Vianne's friend and Anthony's mistress.
• Christianee Porter as Ms. Shirleen
• Joel Rush as Officer Edward "Eddie" Willis, a police officer that pulls over the car that Madea, Joe, Brian, Bam, and Hattie ride in. Rush reprises his character from "If Loving You Is Wrong".
• Mike Tyson as Roy
• Aryeh-Or as Undertaker
• Darryl W. Handy as Reverend
• Branden Miller as Joanne the Scammer
• Tiffany Black as Anthony's Mistress

Production[]

Filming took place at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta for one week in March 2017 before filming Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, given that this film was released two years after that film.. In this movie Tyler Perry plays a new character named Heathrow, Madea and Joe's brother, a Vietnam War veteran.^[3]

Release[]

The film was released in theatres in the United States on March 1, 2019 by Lionsgate, after it was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2018.^[4]

Lionsgate released a trailer for the film on October 31, 2018.

The film was released to Blu-ray and DVD on June 4, 2019 by Lionsgate.

Reception[]

Box office[]

A Madea Family Funeral has grossed $73.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $74.8 million, against a production budget of $20 million.^[5]

In the United States and Canada, A Madea Family Funeral was released alongside Greta, and was projected to gross $18–20 million from 2,442 theaters in its opening weekend.^[6] It made $1.1 million from Thursday night previews, a record for the Madea films, as well as one of the highest of Perry's career. It went on to debut to $27.1 million, finishing second at the box office behind holdover How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and marking the third-best opening of the series.^[7] In its second weekend the film dropped 53% to $12.5 million, finishing third behind newcomer Captain Marvel and How to Train Your Dragon, and then made $8.1 million in its third weekend, finishing fifth.^[8][9]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 12% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 6.73/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A lackluster conclusion to Tyler Perry's long-running franchise, A Madea Family Funeral proves saying goodbye can be painful for all the wrong reasons."^[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 4 out of 5 stars and a 67% "definite recommend".^[7]

For The A.V. Club, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky rated the film D+, summing up the film franchise by writing, "The films are inane, sloppy, tone-deaf, moralizing, and have no sense of quality control, but there’s nothing quite like them."^[12]

Common Sense Media gave the film a 3 out of 5 star rating, saying "Madea says goodbye in winning but dirty slapstick comedy"; the website recommended it for ages 13+.^{[citation needed]}

Accolades[]

* - Perry was nominated twice for Worst Supporting Actor, one each for his roles as Joe and Uncle Heathrow, respectively.

References[]

External links[]

• A Madea Family Funeral at IMDb