On a different note, can anyone explain to me the issue that Tyler Perry has with his writers belonging to/seeking to join (WGA) unions? These unions provide wage protection, health benefits, and afford other protections that are common in this business.

I've read a lot of different explanations suggested by other people but don't quite get the word from the top. If anyone can point me to a credible place to understand this issues, I would appreciate, purely from a writing perspective. I'd also like to find out if he isn't the only well-known producer who holds such union restrictions on his writers.

My mother, who doesn't like TP at all, thinks the movie is really good. She has the book (a very old copy) that I read a few times growing up. I would have totally expected my mother to think that TP couldn't do it justice, but she says "it lacks that Tyler Perry flair." Hmmm...

I enjoyed this movie. Some parts I just couldn't hold the tears in and I didn't think he would let those kids go like that. You would think somebody would've tried to stand under them to make an attempt to catch them.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie. It's a tearjerker. I don't even cry at movies and it almost got me.

I didn't even think about that. That's a good point.

I finally got to see the movie last week. The way I see it, the movie didn't bash black men. the actresses that really stand out was Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elsie(sp) and Loretta Devine. Overall, the movie was good.

I could've sworn I posted in this thread already.

I saw it the first week and went late at night so that the theater was almost empty. It was beautifully done and I would like to see it again. I agree, you gotta be in some kinda mood to watch this. I'm glad not everybody in the cast was actively suicidal, that would have been overwhelmingly depressing. Tessa Thompson did a great job ("I just couldn't stop grinniiiiin'...." :D) and even Janet was great, but I think Anika Noni Rose took the cake for me.

I've heard people complain (IRL) about the storyline and "Why is this so sad? Why are all these women having so many issues, TP needs to let up with that same old line." Uh, he didn't write this. These stories were already like this, give the man a break. He did an excellent job with what he had. For heaven's sake, the book had the word "suicide" in the title--the book was sad, the play was sad, the movie will be sad. :rolleyes: But their stories showed that the bad is not the end. I like how the stories criss-crossed till the end when they all knew each other. Each one was special though I didn't quite understand Kerri Washington's character's story....her man cheated with her best friend and now she can't have children? I missed something in that monologue. If someone could explain, that'd be great.