I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF; A review by Bola Aduwo (of Nollywooduncut.com)
I’ve been a huge fan of Tyler Perry’s films ever since his explosive feature, “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman’, and have avidly followed his films since then. When I saw his latest offering, “I Can Do Bad All By Myself’ featuring my girl, Oscar award nominated Taraji Henson on the poster, I knew I just had to watch it. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
The film was basically about a hard-smoking, hard drinking, night club singer, April (Taraji) who is a relationship with her married boyfriend, Randy (Brian White). April is hard as nails, tough and uncaring on the outside yet tender and yearning for love on the inside. She reluctantly opens her home to her homeless niece and nephews as well as a certain good looking Mexican handyman, Sandino (Adam Rodriquez) and in so doing, inadvertently opens her heart to love on two levels; filial and romantic. Naturally sparks fly between Sandino and Randy as they have a face-off with April having to choose between the two.
MY REVIEW:
Great, great movie! Taraji was awesome in this role; deep, emotional, sassy, name it! Another actor that did it for me was Brian White. My word! Where has this guy been? I only have one word for him…actually two! Hot and brilliant. He played the mean, possessive, selfish boyfriend to the T, even hitting on April’s 16 year old niece in the process. An act that got his behind thoroughly kicked by Sandino and almost electrocuted by April. (I just had to add that scene! Heh heh!)
Adam Rodriguez was another great find! Haven’t seen him before but his acting was good enough for me google his name to check out which other films he has been in, so I can look out for them too. And ofcourse there was Madea! Can we forget her or is it him? lol Just being her usual wise-cracking self. Of notable mention, acting minor roles were Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight and Marvin Winans. Their singing was something else. That’s the thing about Tyler’s movies. You get a little of everything.. great acting, singing and healthy dose of some gospel truths which we all could do with, in our fast-paced lives.
I also enjoyed exploring the themes of interracial love. Adam certainly made it look easy! But what touched me most were the issues of loneliness, selfishness and filial alienation Taraji’s character April was going through. Taraji knew just how to reach in deep and bring those feelings to the fore. I’ll say great directing by Tyler. Kudos again to Tyler for constantly and sensitively treating those issues pertaining to women. It has certainly earned him several marks in my book. Great movie! Great cast and great acting. Go see this movie!
Written and Directed by: Tyler Perry
Cast:
Taraji P. Henson – April
Brian White – Randy
Adam Rodriguez – Sandino
Tyler Perry – Madea/Joe
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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