Get On Up (2014)

I've been a James Brown fan since I was in pre-school.  One of my favorite childhood memories is of watching him on "The Ed Sullivan Show".  Mr. Brown fell on his knees to the stage, and a cape was draped around his shoulders.  Normally, someone in his show would do the honors with the cape, helping an allegedly overcome-with-emotion Brown off the stage.  That time, Ed Sullivan put the cape on Mr. Brown.  Sullivan didn't know what to do when Mr. Brown suddenly revived and ran back up to the microphone. Sullivan just let the cape fall and stepped back into the wings of the stage.

This movie doesn't feature that performance, but it does cover some of Brown's other big performances such as when he went on The T.A.M.I. Show (1965), the concert featured on the famous Live At The Apollo album (1966), and a concert done in Paris back in 1971.  But the movie doesn't delve deeper into is what made The Hardest Working Man In Show Business tick.  There are plenty of hints that Brown was affected by situations in his life, but the screenplay falls short.

We get a little of Brown's (Chadwick Boseman) poverty-stricken childhood in Georgia, with absentee parents (played by Lennie Jones and Viola Davis) who had their own problems.  As a young man, Brown ends up in jail for stealing, and is saved from a long term by the family of the guy who would become his best friend, Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis).  Byrd is the band member that is focused on the most.  Musicians Maceo Parker (Craig Robinson), Pee Wee Ellis (Tariq Trotter), and backup singer Yvonne Fair (Tika Sumpter) aren't shown much.  Boseman does a good job of doing Brown's signature dance moves; I was especially pleased to see a scene reenacted from the movie Ski Party (1965), which featured Brown doing a split in the snow.  Unfortunately, the movie jumps back and forth between Brown's youth, the climb up to fame, and after fame arrived.  Sometimes, titles let the audience know what year the story was in at the moment.  Most other times, I had to figure it out by the hairstyles and clothes the characters were wearing.

I thought it was a nice touch having Dan Ackroyd playing Ben Bart, who managed Brown's career for a long time.  Ackroyd knew Brown in real life, and he appeared in The Blues Brothers (1980) and The Blues Brothers 2000 (1999) with Brown.  Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, is one of the producers of the movie.

Why Did I Get Married Too (2010)

The couples are back to go on their annual marriage retreat -- this time in the beautiful Bahamas -- and as usual, all is not well.  Marcus (Michael Jai White) who's now a sportscaster, and outspoken Angela (Tasha Smith) are still constantly arguing over trust and control issues.  Terry (Tyler Perry) has his suspicions about his attorney wife, Dianne (Sharon Leal).  Patricia (Janet Jackson) and Gavin (Malik Yoba) are experiencing tensions.  Troy (Lamman Rucker), who married Sheila (Jill Scott) in the last movie, is down because he's out of work.  Adding further drama to the mix is the re-appearance of Mike (Richard T. Jones), Sheila's ex-husband, who's making noises about missing her. 

It's very similar to the first film, with Angela and Marcus providing a lot of the comic relief, while the others follow the dramatic track.  Lou Gossett Jr. and Cicely Tyson have small roles as a long married couple who school the younger couples in how love works.  As promised in the trailer, one of the couples does not does not make it.  But unfortunately, the couples' relationships aren't dug into very deep.  I left after the credits wanting a better ending, which felt like it was rushed.  An actor, who is not credited, appears in the movie near the end.  I won't give away his identity, other than to say that most of the women in the theater audience screamed in delight when he appeared on the screen. 

Mr. Rucker appears on a Tyler Perry TV sitcom entitled, "Meet The Browns".  Mr. White has also appeared in numerous action movies, including Undisputed II:  Last Man Standing (2006). Roger Lodge, who used to host the dating reality show "Blind Date" (1998-2005), appears here as a nosy colleague of Marcus'.

Why Did I Get Married? (2007)

Although not as preachy as Tyler Perry's previous films and plays tend to be, this film still gives out the usual good messages. Four African-American couples (Perry, Sharon Leal, Malik Yoba, Janet Jackson, Michael Jai White, Tasha Smith, Richard T. Jones, Jill Scott) have their annual vacation, and a Colorado house is chosen as the spot. Patricia (Jackson), a prominent professor and author, organizes the time as sort of a marriage encounter group.

Mike (Jones), starts off the vacation wrong. His zaftig wife Sheila, (Scott) is asked to leave the plane they are on because she is too fat. He does not defend her from this humiliation. Instead, he tells her to drive to Colorado. Sitting next to him is Trina (Denise Boutte), who is secretly his mistress. Mike ain't about to leave Trina alone on the flight. When he shows up in Colorado with Trina, and displays no concern for her safety, the other wives are instantly suspicious.

Other secrets are going on: Marcus (White) has contracted VD from an affair, and is scared to tell his loud, tell-it-like-it-is wife Angela (Smith). Terry (Perry) hasn't had relations with his wife Diane (Leal) for a long time, because she is too busy. Truth is, she doesn't want another child. And the seemingly perfect couple (Jackson, Yoba) have yet to deal with the loss of their child. Things blow up during a dinner, and the couples are forced into dealing with their issues.

The movie is very amusing in the beginning, and the dinner scene where everything comes to a head is very funny. The movie bogs down a little after that when the couples deal with the fallout. Jill Scott, who is a singer, is very good here, and she makes you want to root for her character. Richard T. Jones (The Wood) plays a character that all the women in the theater where I saw this movie hated from the first time he came on the screen. You spend your time wishing that he'll eventually get his. Janet Jackson (Poetic Justice, "Good Times") gets more praise for her singing than her acting. There were times, especially during a heavy emotional scene, that I couldn't quite believe her lines, but she's not horrible in this. The scene stealer is Tasha Smith, whose character says exactly what she wants, and doesn't give a damn who doesn't like it. Also, Lamman Rucker, who plays a sheriff who comes to Scott's rescue, has some nice scenes.