I want to say some positive things first. The
saving grace of this movie is the superb acting of Jurnee Smollet-Bell.
Since Smollett-Bell's riveting first acting job at 9 in "Eve's
Bayou" I have followed her career and watch her blossom into a wonderful
adult actress.
The storyline
centers on Judith (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) who is a dutiful, Christian wife to
Brice (Lance Gross). She becomes bored with him and wants to pursue a career as
a marriage counselor but instead becomes this therapist at this high-class
matchmaking service. She is introduced by a co-worker to Harley ( Robbie Jones)
who initially is everything her husband is not, most importantly attentive.
This is where the movie gets very cliché. I can't help but reflect on
"Diary of a mad housewife." I think the trailer has some of the best
scenes. She gets tempted, cheats, cheating doesn't work out, yada yada yada.
Then the sub-plots come in. Smollet-Bell's husband is speaking to
Brandy's character (counselor) about his situation and twists ensue as
she reveals secret about her past.
The one reason reason to watch this film
Then we have to contend with this
crazy "fake french" accent by Vanessa Williams character
(she plays Smollett-Bell's boss). The next assault on our intelligence is that
Kim Kardashian could act outside of her "porno" movie. She was
suppose to be the comic relief but the only relief was when she was not in the scene.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed Brice's (Gross) strip downs for the camera can I say "over-kill" with the pectoral views. Okay we get it Perry likes hunky men in his scenes. There was a super long flash back scene to get the audience to understand why certain characters acted the way they did however after that part ended I couldn't care less.
This was a black version of "Shades of Grey." I understand that sex sells but there were times when Perry flirted on a "R" rating. The good girl turned bad, told ya so premise has been done and overdone. I admire Perry bringing a voice to the African-American community and trying to address many issues that culturally have never been addressed thoroughly in the media but he really needs to start adding some diversity to his repertoire. He is a shrewd business man and understands putting his name in a film will garner box office tickets, but then what happens after the ticket holder comes to his movies? My take on it- wait for video.
