Movie review: ‘Why Did I Get Married?’
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Oct 16, 2007 at 9:16pm
By Ramona Bissudo
When it comes to bang for the buck, there are few filmmakers around as successful as Tyler Perry. The writer-director has had a string of low-budget hits (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea’s Family Reunion and Daddy’s Little Girls). He’s continuing his streak with Why Did I Get Married?, which opened atop the box office this past weekend.
There’s no denying his populist appeal, but Perry’s movies have the feel of a so-so TV sitcom (such as Perry’s own House of Payne). The filmmaker deserves kudos for covering serious issues and examining matters of faith. It’s just too bad he isn’t more elegant in his approach.
Here’s the film’s synopsis from Lionsgate: “Why Did I Get Married? is an intimate story about the difficulty of maintaining a solid love relationship in modern times. During a trip to the picturesque, snowcapped mountains of Colorado, eight married college friends have gathered for their annual seven-day reunion. But the cozy mood is shattered when the group comes face-to-face with one pair’s infidelity. As secrets are revealed, each couple begins questioning the validity of their own marriage. Over the course of the weekend, husbands and wives take a hard look at their lives and wrestle with issues of commitment, betrayal, and forgiveness as they seek a way forward.”
The game, if not exceptional, cast includes Janet Jackson (better than you’d expect), Malik Yoba, Perry himself, Sharon leal, Michael Jai White, Tasha Smith, Jill Scott (in an ill-conceived fat suit) and Richard T. Jones. However, they’re laden with characters who aren’t fully fleshed out, some clunky scenes (one character literally goes to tell it on the mountain) and wooden dialog. Plus, Why Did I Get Married? overstays its welcome, especially with its pat, too-tidy ending.
However, Perry knows his target audience and delivers what they want. If you’re enjoyed his other films, you’ll enjoy this one.
Why Did I Get Married is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual references and language. Running time: 113 minutes. Macsimum rating: 5 out of 10. You can check out the films’ trailers on the QuickTime movie trailer site.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 10,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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