Tyler Perry’s latest film, based on Ntozake Shange's award–winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, follows the trials and tribulations of several black women, played by big names like Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah! As the title of the source material suggests, the stories aren’t in the least bit pleasant. These women undergo domestic abuse, rape and more. The cast puts forth a strong ensemble performance, with Kimberly Elise and Macy Gray (with just a few minutes of screen time) totally stealing the show. Occasionally the characters are given extended monologues, which are snippets of the poetry from the original show. These, while occasionally overwrought, are very poignant and certainly the best parts of the film. So why is For Colored Girls no good? The answer, my friends, is Tyler Perry.
Perry's mark is unfortunately all over the script and direction. His treatment of the play is egregiously contrived and cliched. All the aforementioned horrors happen over the course of a week, and characters constantly bump into each other like they’re in The Room. The clunky dialogue is an uneasy mix of social realism and sassy comebacks. In some scenes, Perry wants to make Precious 2, and in others he wants his show off his third–rate zingers.
Perry also uses bizarre intercutting, which ruins what could have been one powerful scene in particular. For example, while a woman is being brutally date–raped, we also see and hear … an opera? All the while another protagonist’s hubby checks out dudes on the DL. These events have nothing to do with each other, blunting the traumatic impact that seeing abuse intrinsically elicits.
Worst of all are the scene transitions. Often when a character experiences a horrific event, we have to wait 20 minutes to experience his or her reaction to it.
Adapting a play into a movie is notoriously difficult, but Perry unequivocally proves himself not up to the task. He simply tries to juggle too many emotions and plot lines, dropping all of them in the process.
For Colored Girls
Directed by: Tyler Perry
Starring: Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg
Rated R, 120 min.
2/5 Stars
