smooth_op_85 Diary of A Mad Black Woman is the story of Helen, married to an attorney Charles, her high school sweetheart. They both came from nothing and have built a great life for themselves. There is one dark secret: Their marriage is in trouble.After finding out Charles has been unfaithful on their anniversary and dragged out of the house, she has to come home again. Enter Madea, the two go on a journey with Madea in a way guiding Helen. She builds her life on her own terms and meets Orlando (played by the beautiful and hunkalicious Shemar Moore) and begins a relationship with him.But tragedy ins't far off when Charles is shot by a vengeful client and she decides to care for him.Torn between two men, two choices, one path for Helen.Written with a delicate yet powerful touch, this movie definitely shows Tyler Perry as a great storyteller and while Madea can be a bit much, those who have seen the play have a sense of deja vu.

Gideon24 One of Tyler Perry's earliest big screen offerings was 2005's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, a glossy, yet empty comedy/drama/romance that suffers from a somewhat muddled screenplay and some unappealing characters (including Perry's most famous creation, Medea).The film stars Kimberly Elise as Helen, the pampered wife of a sexist mob lawyer named Charles (Steve Harris) who finds her comfortable existence shattered when her husband announces that he is in love with another woman and unceremoniously throws her out of the house with nothing but the clothes on her back. She then moves in with her grandmother Medea and while trying to learn how to live her life as an independent woman, attempts to start a relationship with a regular guy named Orlando (Shemar Moore), who cannot provide the life her husband did, but treats her like a queen, but she is so damaged by what her husband did to her, she keeps pushing Orlando away. Things become even more complicated when Charles' work gets him seriously hurt and Helen finds herself compelled to be the man's caregiver.This film pretty much aggravates the viewer throughout because the central character is kind of all over the place...it's a mystery why she stayed married to Charles as long as she did, not to mention her ignorance about his work or why even after cheating on her and throwing her out, she still seems to have feelings for him. It's aggravating as we watch Orlando makes all the right moves with Helen and being kept at arm's length and it's also aggravating watching Helen getting lots of bad advice from Medea on how to move on with her life. The scene where Medea enters Charles' house and starts sawing the furniture in half is just ridiculous.Kimberly Elise works very hard at making Helen likable but she is fighting the screenplay all the way and Perry's arrogant casting of himself as not only Madea, but Helen's cousin Brian AND Medea's husband Joe is pretty hard to take as well. Moore's role as Orlando is pretty thankless, but he looks good while he's doing it. Harris is extremely effective as Charles though, completely investing in one of the most despicable characters I have ever seen in a movie. The movie might have worked a lot better if it was a little clearer what point Perry is trying to make here, as his central character is a lot more stupid than she is "mad.

Vins_gurl18 Wow...where do I begin??First of all, I'm slowly but surely becoming a fan of Tyler Perry's films. I haven't liked ALL of his films, but for the most part I love a lot of his films like: the "Why Did I Get Married" films, "I Can Do Bad All By Myself", and now...I can add "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" to this list! I have to admit, I held off from watching this movie for YEARS because I thought (just based on the title) that the movie was perpetuating the stereotypical image of the "angry black woman" and frankly I didn't want to support that.Well, I finally broke down and got a chance to watch this movie the other day, and let me tell you....I LOVED it! This movie pretty much changed my life! I have been harboring some resentment and anger over an ex boyfriend who did me wrong for years, and while I had started to get over it, it wasn't until I saw this movie that I truly was moved to COMPLETELY forgive him for how he treated me.What Helen (Kimberly Elise) went through with her husband in the film can in NO way compare to what my ex put me through. What her husband did to her makes the problems that my ex and I went through look like a tiny paper cut. I really admire her character's strength, and ability to FORGIVE towards the end of the film. It just showed me that we as women can overcome any type of adversity if we simply try hard enough, forgive the person, forgive ourselves, and ask for God's help. Now, I have firmly resolved to truly FORGIVE my ex completely for how he treated me and to just move on instead of reliving the past. This film moved me so much. :) Of course the cast was great as always. I saw a different side to Shemar Moore (Orlando) that I don't usually see too often. Steve Harris (Charles) was the guy that you just loved to hate in the film. He made it pretty easy believe me! LOL! And of course Madea was in the film and pretty much stole every scene "she" was in lol. I was howling with laughter at the jokes! Overall, like most of Tyler Perry's films, this film takes you through the ringer, but shows towards the end that you can overcome any type of adversity or trials. It really is a feel-good movie towards the end, and if you're a woman who's ever had a bad break up or had a man do you wrong, you will be able to relate to Helen in the film and this movie will uplift you. :) I'm so glad I watched it! Definitely 8/10 stars for me!

christian mailloux I recently came upon this movie while surfing channels in my Jamaica hotel room. The movie was about 30 seconds in, so I thought I'd give it a try. My first impression was one of utter disappointment. The writing, acting, and directing were at a glance completely awful. But I thought I'd stick with it; maybe it would get better. And I have to say, by the end, I hadn't changed my mind. And heres why: The characters. Every single character in the film was completely unbelievable, and I could not relate with any of them. Now I know some of the characters were meant to be ridiculous, but not to the extent they were. Lets take Helen. The star of the whole movie, the one you are supposed to root for. She's the most moody woman on the planet, shes vindictive, mean, snappy. And why Orlando would vie for her love after she treated him the way she did all throughout the movie is beyond me.Now let's take the crack head mother. What was her name again? I don't remember because she was on screen for an upwards of 3 minutes. So, at the end of the film, she spends one, yes, ONE night in rehab, sings a gospel tune, and is completely cleansed of her addiction. Now, I've seen sappy, ridiculous endings a lot, but this one was unbearable. The over the top Christian undertone (or was it meant to be an overtone?) was completely unnecessary, and took away from the film. The line "Im a good Christian woman" In one of the diary narrative scenes was out of place, and had no effect other than to try and draw in a Christian audience.Overall, this movie was bad. One of the worst movies I've ever seen, to be sure.