Tyler Perry is a self-made media magnate who has made some of the top films in the business. The film and television mogul is a classic rags-to-riches story. He started off staging his plays while living in poverty and, through persistence and determination, became a billionaire. Perry’s films, books, and plays have garnered him a large, devoted fanbase that enjoys his mix of comedy and drama, most effectively represented by his character, Madea.
Recently, Tyler Perry stopped developing his planned $800 million film studio because of concerns that AI like Sora could displace jobs in the film and television industry. Why spend nearly a billion dollars constructing a new film studio when the industry could collapse? It’s not AI like Sora that’s impressive, but Perry’s $800 million flex! The actor and director has carved a name for himself in Hollywood and shows no signs of slowing down. Let’s look at some of his top films to celebrate his achievements.
15. A Madea Christmas
Critics are not big fans of the Madea Universe and regularly give extremely low ratings for almost all films starring Madea, Tyler’s drag-outfitted alter ego. Like most of his work, Perry wrote, directed, produced and starred in A Madea Christmas.
While critics hated it, fans enjoyed the Christmas-time family comedy as it follows Madea going to the fictional town of Bucktussle, Alabama, with her great-niece, Eileen, to spend Christmas with Eileen’s daughter, Lacey Williams, as financial trouble involving a newly-constructed dam threatens the town.
Madea accompanies Eileen to convince Lacey to come home for Christmas. Little do they know that the reason she hasn’t come home is because she has married a white man. Perry’s love of Southern-style humour is the key ingredient that makes his films so beloved by his fans. The other key component is Perry’s understanding of his audience.
His characters are relatable and connect with the audience who enjoy Madea’s antics and family- and relationship-focused stories. A Madea Christmas got a few Golden Rasberry nominations, with Perry winning for worst actress. However, come Christmas, even the most die-hard Madea hater will secretly be watching this guilty pleasure, and that’s why it deserves to be one of the top Tyler Perry films.
14. Madea’s Tough Love
Madea became so popular that in 2015, Tyler Perry voiced the character in this animated feature that became one of the top films in the industry. The kid’s movie sees Madea being sentenced to community service at a youth centre, where she comes across a devious plot to destroy it.
Madea’s infraction with the law alters her life significantly, but her maternal instincts force her to save the youth centre. Using her wisdom, wit, and charm, she helps the kids raise money to save the youth centre from becoming a shopping mall. Madea’s Tough Love is the perfect introduction to Madea for kids, with less toilet humour and sexual innuendo than in the live-action movies.
13. Acrimony
Taraji P. Henson stars as Melinda Moore Gayle, a woman driven to her breaking point after she supported her husband financially during their eighteen-year marriage, only for him to become a millionaire and marry another woman after he and Gayle are divorced.
Melinda feels she is owed more than the $10 million Robert gives her, especially since he is worth hundreds of millions now that his battery invention was accepted by a large conglomerate. Tyler Perry wrote and directed this psychological thriller about a woman scorned and her path of revenge, and it quickly became a top film.
12. A Madea Family Funeral
Funerals are moments when families get together to say goodbye to their loved ones. It’s also a time when family tensions and drama can raise their ugly head. Well, have no fear because that’s what Madea is here for. In this 2019 release, Madea is going on vacation, but things don’t work out; instead, she has to plan an unexpected funeral after a relative dies.
Leave it to Madea to help the family during their bereavement while also helping them deal with some nasty secrets that will rock the family of the dead. A Madea Family Funeral pokes fun at funerals in the black community, which are often very long and elaborate. Still, the film also shows how tight-knit and loving these gatherings can be.
11. Good Deeds
Tyler Perry stars as Wesley Deeds, a successful businessman in charge of the Deeds Corporation. Wesley has the perfect life, but something’s missing. Predictability and affluence have made his life empty and boring, that is, until a struggling single mother, Lindsey Wakefield (Thandi Newton), who works nights as a janitor at the Deeds Corporation, challenges Wesley, eventually bringing meaning and excitement he never knew was possible into his life.
Deeds, however, begins to have feelings for Lindsey. The only trouble is he’s engaged to Natalie (Gabrielle Union). Good Deeds‘ focus on second chances and finding true love resonated with audiences. The film is one of Perry’s most uplifting and inspirational and one of the actor’s most beloved roles he has appeared in.
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10. Madea’s Witness Protection
Goerge Needleman (Eugene Levy) is a mild-mannered CFO who unwittingly becomes involved in a Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately, Needleman and his family have to go into Witness Protection, and wouldn’t you know it, Madea is chosen as the host to watch over the Needlemans while the FBI investigates the case.
Madea’s Southern mannerisms and tough love clash with the family’s dysfunctional and spoilt lifestyle, creating a hilarious blend of humour and drama. Madea’s Witness Protection is a heartwarming tale that takes a closer look at family dynamics and the power to overcome obstacles when everyone is on the same page. The movie transcends racial barriers and shows everyone can find common ground.
9. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor
Confessions of a Marriage Counselor is a cautionary tale featuring Judith, who works at a matchmaking firm. Judith is married to Brice, her childhood sweetheart. Still, she risks everything when she starts having an extramarital affair with Harley, a successful internet entrepreneur. Juditch is attracted to Harley’s upper-class world and exposes herself to deadly choices that could ruin her marriage and life.
Tyler Perry directs and explores the fallen nature in each of us. Judith had a happy life, but her desire for more leads her down a dark road, and she loses everything she holds dear because she gives in to her illicit desires. Perry is usually known for comedies, but this dark story of ambition, lust, and betrayal is one of his best.
8. The Single Mom’s Club
It’s tough being a single mom. The stigma and gossip, on top of raising children by yourself, is a heavy cross to bear. Tyler Perry understands this and decided to make a top film to strengthen and uplift single mothers. Perry says he was inspired to make the film by his aunt, who raised four boys alone while never taking welfare. The Single Mom’s Club explores the lives of five diverse women raising their children alone while balancing their careers. They are forced to unite when their 11 to 12-year-old kids collectively get in trouble at their private school.
Their forced connection soon gives way to genuine friendship and bonding, in which these single parents find the courage and strength to accept their hardships by leaning on each other and being the best example to their children. Tyler is often criticised for his melodramatic films, and The Single Mother’s Club has plenty of melodrama. Still, audiences connected with the film’s honest portrayal of what single parents experience, making it a standout.
7. Nobody’s Fool
Tiffany Haddish and Whoopi Goldberg star in this comedy about Danica (Tika Sumpter), who works at a marketing firm and is unlucky in love after her fiance dumps her for another woman. Danica eventually starts an online relationship with Charlie, but Danica’s sister, Tanya (Haddish), an ex-con, believes Danica is being catfished.
Tanya is overprotective of Danica and decides to find out who Charlie really is. The film captures Tanya’s bungling attempts to uncover the truth but is only making things worse for Danica. Nobody’s Fool is one of Perry’s most raunchy films, and audiences looking for a less racy Madea movie should know this is not one of those movies. Audiences found Haddish hilarious and, as is to be expected, Whoopi is funny as Lola, the mother of these sisters whose opposing personalities often collide. The film is an example of sisterly love. It shows Perry, once again, tapping into the everyday life experiences of his audience.
6. For Colored Girls
Perry adapts Ntozake Shange’s 1975 original choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. The movie depicts the interconnected lives of ten black women, exploring their lives and struggles. Each woman is identified by a colour, and the film’s stellar cast includes Janet Jackson, Thandi Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, and Loretta Devine.
The film is one of Perry’s most artistic. It tackles the pain and hardships these females have experienced, whether through racism, sexism or both. Audiences were moved by the film’s powerful message and how it shined a light on topics usually left unsaid in society and film.
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5. Peeples
Perry is often accused of relying too heavily on tropes and stereotypes. However, audiences don’t seem to mind, especially when they deliver laugh-out-loud moments like in Peeples. The comedy follows Wade Walker (Craig Robinson) as he attempts to impress his girlfriend, Grace’s (Kerry Washington) affluent family, at the Moby Dick Reunion in the Hamptons.
Grace’s hard-to-impress father (David Alan Grier) doesn’t like Wade, who fails to impress the overly judgmental father. Perry allows Robinson to shine as the foolish Wade, and he offers up plenty of laughs. Grier is once again a standout playing the sour-faced Virgil Peeples. Wade’s failed attempts help him to realise crucial lessons about himself and the importance of honesty and open communication. Viewers enjoyed the film’s lightheartedness and exploration of family life and its slapstick humour, which Perry excels at.
4. Boo 2! A Madea Halloween
Madea is stomping through every genre in film. This time, she finds herself in a horror, and she has to run from monsters, goblins and killers to stay alive. This sequel to the first Halloween romp is another hilarious outing for Madea and the gang as they attempt to fetch 18-year-old Tiffany from a party at the lake, which is said to be stalked by a serial killer.
Who would have believed that Tyler Perry and his Madea character would resurrect corny 80s horror? Boo and Boo 2 are indebted to cheesy horrors like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. Perry puts his own twist on the slasher genre and delivers a hilarious, super funny comedy horror.
3. Madea Goes to Jail
One of the Madea Universe’s most well-known and loved movies is when the tough-loving grandma loses her temper too many times and ends up in jail. Madea is her sassy and foul-mouthed best as she goes from one outrageous moment to the next.
The Southern Belle causes havoc in prison but also brings warmth and care, assisting various prisoners who are either hardened criminals or struggling mothers. The movie is crude and is filled with politically incorrect stereotypes, but man, is it funny and likeable at the same time.
2. Boo! A Madea Halloween
Trick or treat fools! The film’s slogan is all you need to know about how funny this slapstick horror is. Like the sequel, Boo! A Madea Halloween plays on all the tropes in the slasher and supernatural horror genre while adding Madea’s signature in-your-face humour and over-the-top antics. White audiences might not have loved Madea as much as black audiences, but after Boo!, Madea became everyone’s favourite grandma.
Boo! A Madea Halloween sees Madea keeps an eye on her niece to ensure she does not sneak off to a Halloween party. As the night progresses, Madea finds herself on a spooky adventure and follows her as she takes down supernatural beings. Perry cross-overs the horror and black comedy genre and attracts a broader audience unfamiliar with Madea’s style and humour. Boo! A Madea Halloween is one of Perry’s most important films for its ability to transcend genres and connect black and white.
1. I Can Do Bad All By Myself
I Can Do Bad All By Myself is one of Perry’s best films. It is a touching story about a heavy-drinking lounge singer, April, played by Taraji P. Henson, who has to look after her niece and nephews after their grandmother goes missing. Madea catches the children breaking into her place and brings them to April, who is reluctant to take care of the kids. Madea offers a helping hand and guides April as she raises the children and tries to correct her life, which has been on a downward spiral.
Perry tells a moving story of redemption and second chances, with Henson giving a standout portrayal of April.
What do you think about the list? What should have been included to make this a list of top Tyler Perry films?