Tyler Perry (Madea's Class Reunion) gets a chance to shine in cinemas as the screenwriter of and actor in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," based on his stageplay.

"Diary of a Mad Black Woman" is about Helen, played by Kimberly Elise (John Q), who is blindsided with a divorce from a spiteful husband, who keeps another family with children on the side. With no where else to go, Helen decides to stay with her aunt Madea, since her husband made her put her mother in an assisted living home. Madea lives with her brother Joe, and the two create most of the pictures laughs.

Eventually, as the divorce comes to a finale, lawyer/husband Charles, played by Steve Harris (TV's The Practice) is shot in court by a drug dealing client, paralyzed from the neck down…temporarily. His new wife takes his kids and cleans out his bank account, leaving him for dead. Helen is the only one left to help him, even though he is just as mean to her.

There are also a couple of subplots including cousin Brian, also Helen's divorce lawyer, struggling with being in love with his wife, despite having thrown her out of the house until she gets help from her heroin addiction. Also, Helen finds a new romance in Orlando, played by Shemar Moore (The Brothers).

The movie's plot between Helen and Charles is the most interesting, whereas the subplots with Brian and his wife, as well as Helen and Orlando were extremely contrived. Orlando's courtship of Helen was overly romantic, and did not feel natural. I, as a guy, had trouble believing one man can be THAT charming at ALL TIMES.

Tyler Perry, who plays Brian, Joe in aged make up, AND Madea in drag, wrote some pretty sharp dialogue, but his story efforts overall seemed a bit too forced.

I had a problem accepting the character of Madea in the first place. Madea was definitely the comic relief of a very dramatic series of plots, but Perry performed the character without any makeup. The only exception was a pair of glasses, a wig and a big body suit with boobies that droop to the knees. Joe, on the other hand, was performed in full makeup, including prosthetics, and I completely bought into it. Madea's role was hilarious, but tough to watch without seeing the male actor/writer. Perry's performance as Brian was very good.

Kimberly Elise's performance as Helen was awesome, and Harris' role as Charles was strong but a bit unbelievable. His character barely showed any human qualities until the third act, until then, it was difficult to believe anyone can be THAT mean to a woman who did nothing to HIM.

Overall the picture was pretty smart and had a lot to say about forgiveness and falling in love again after being burned so bad. The dialogue also involves much spiritual motivation, especially through Helen's mother, played by the always impressive Cicely Tyson (The Rosa Parks Story). However, the picture can be pretty boring at times. This is one of those 50/50 pictures in my mind. You may love it or you may not.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?