Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)

A couple with a good marriage that seemed solid, actually begins to crumble when she discovers her husband's intentions for divorce.

Director:

Darren Grant

Writers:

Tyler Perry (play), Tyler Perry

Stars:

Kimberly Elise, Steve Harris, Tyler Perry

12 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kimberly Elise	...	Helen
Steve Harris	...	Charles
Tyler Perry	...	Madea / Brian / Joe
Shemar Moore	...	Orlando
Lisa Marcos	...	Brenda
Tamara Taylor	...	Debrah
Cicely Tyson	...	Myrtle
Terrell Carter	...	Reverend Carter
Carol Mitchell-leon	...	Mildred (as Carol Mitchell-Leon)
Avery Knight	...	BJ
Vickie Eng	...	Christina
Tiffany Evans	...	Tiffany
Gary Anthony Sturgis	...	Jamison (as Gary Sturgis)
Bart Hansard	...	Guard
Chandra Currelley-Young	...	Chandra

Storyline

Helen McCarter has everything a woman wants: a nice house and rich husband. However after her husband Charles throws her out of the house after admitting to an affair a distraught Helen turns to her mother, grandmother Madea and cousin Brian who take her in and turn back to God. Helen learns for the first time in her life to stand up on her two feet and is ready to remove herself from her relationship with Charles and move on with Orlando. But when her husband is almost killed by a vengeful client, Helen wonders if she has the heart to forgive him despite everything.

---

Plot Keywords:

anniversary | infidelity | reconciliation | cheating husband | adultery | 

---

Taglines:

Get ready to meet a real straight shooter

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for drug content, thematic elements, crude sexual references and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Entertainment [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$21,905,089 (USA) (25 February 2005)

Gross:

$50,382,128 (USA) (15 April 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BET Pictures, Diary of a Woman Inc., Diary of a Woman Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Madea is a combination of the women in Tyler Perry's life, his mother, aunties, and sisters.

---

Goofs

At the beginning when Charles takes Helen home after the party they are in the car arguing. In the majority of the shots, Helen's fur wrap is low on her shoulders with her shoulders and necklace showing. In one shot it is way up around her neck covering everything. Then, it is back to the more revealing position after that.

---

Quotes

Brenda: What the - Who are you?
Madea: Who you?
Brenda: I'm the owner of this house.
Madea: [buzzer sound] Wrong answer. My granddaughter Helen is the owner of THIS house! You da hoe, you aint got no power or no deed.
Brenda: [notices one or her ruined clothes] Did you do this? This is Vera Wang!
Madea: Who dat is? She do nails? I need to get my nails did.
Brenda: That's it! I'm calling the police.
Madea: I aint scared a no po po. Call da po po hoe. Call da po po hoe!

---

Connections

Followed by I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2009)

---

Soundtracks

"Maria's Lullaby"
Performed by Harolyn Blackwell and William Hicks
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (as Tchaikovsky)
Courtesy of Oceans Away Records

User Reviews

How Darren Grant Sold The Most Unlikely Film To The Masses

Darren grant is a cool cucumber. After over 120 Music videos and commercials in just 8 years, the youngish helmer has delivered with "Diary of A Mad Black Woman". This debut director has entered the Hollywood fray on par with any big shooter. As a former Madison Avenue, ad agency creative director, I will admit I am biased because he directed an award- winning commercial for me 2 years ago.

Still, Mr. Grant pulled off the same trick he did with our controversial cinema/TV commercials (which featured a cigarette executive as a lethal "Hitman"): he took a complex, ethnically esoteric subject and simplified it, making it digestible for the masses. Slap me around a little, but I think that's what a good Director should do. The playwright, Tyler Perry has had things cooking for years on the Chittlin' Circuit, bringing his own unique brand of urban theatre to working-class, black America. Mr. Perry came to Hollywood as a pre-packaged star. And Hollywood has acknowledged his presence in grand fashion.

The rather surreal Madea character is more than just a man-in-drag; it is Perry's vessel of choice. Via Madea, he can impart a spiritual gospel that reflects his experience growing up in the black church. He can also channel his insights on politics and perhaps give a few pointers to wayward minorities who feel they are up against it. The rest of the characters in DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN: Helen, Charles, Orlando, Debrah, Brenda, Tiffany and Myrtle – not to mention, Brian, Madea and Joe – all played by Tyler Perry, serve to hone Mr. Perry's particular brand of cultural propaganda. To wit, love it or hate it, there is a well- defined black American subculture that cannot be ignored.

DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN is indeed complex. Whereas Robin Williams in "Mrs. Doubtfire" was, deliberately in drag as a scheming septuagenarian and as was Martin Lawrence in the "Big Momma's House" – Tyler Perry's Madea is a REAL woman! He's also Madea's dirty-old-man of a brother and takes off the makeup to play handsome young attorney. Tyler is almost on par with Eddie Murphy as he bandies about in multiple roles. Again, credit Darren Grant's deft understanding of the characters' interaction. The only criticism here is that Tyler Perry is actually a more convincing actor when he is talking to himself(s)!

Kimberly Elise is a true A-list acting talent. If Madea is comic relief, Elise's Helen fulfills the dramaturgy aspect of the film. She admirably holds her own with screen legend, Cicely Tyson as her mother. Steve Harris is menacingly effective as an Ike Turner-esque, booji Atlanta attorney who emotionally terrorizes his wife and associates. Shemar Moore gives a breakout performance that is sure to take him to the next level in Hollywood. Watch as he is next transformed into a mainstream matinée idol …

What's most important about this film is how it OWNS the right to speak of an ethnic genre. Darren Grant and Tyler Perry have cleverly positioned themselves as experts on American black culture. And how there are thousands of similar stories yet untold. Look for this director to, perhaps, do what Spike Lee intended; what Carl Franklin suggested; and what the Van Peebles' aspired to do: become the definitive, fresh, new voice in Black American film.

###