Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion

Our heroine is one half of an attractive Atlanta couple, living in a luxurious home as the partner of a handsome professional. When they're out together, people seem to bask in their easy glow: They're such a lovely couple. But all isn't as it seems …

Wait. Wasn't that Diary of a Mad Black Woman?

Well, how about this: A hardworking young woman is wounded and alone because her mother neglects her, choosing instead to lavish attention on her sister. The young woman's inner and outer beauty goes unnoticed until the day a handsome "prince" comes along and …

And it would be easy to say that if you've seen Diary—or Cinderella—that you've seen Madea's Family Reunion. That's a fair critique, but it's not quite the whole story.

The film starts with the story of Lisa (Rochelle Aytes), who lives with fiancé Carlos (Blair Underwood) in a palatial 30th floor condo. It's clear almost from the beginning that, despite the boulder on her left hand and his romantic gestures, Lisa's rightfully terrified of Carlos, an investment banker and self-described "collector of fine things" who can't seem to stop battering his favorite one.

When Lisa confides in her mom, Victoria, the cunning, leonine mother of the bride (played tautly by Lynn Whitfield) shocks her daughter—and the audience—by telling her to grow up and be a good wife, because there are just some things a woman must endure to be comfortable. After all, she doesn't want to end up like her sister, does she?

That sister, Vanessa (Lisa Arrindell Anderson), works in an upscale bridal shop to support herself and her two young children. They're just getting by for now, living with Madea (Tyler Perry), who has been ordered by Judge Mablean Ephram to take ...

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