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I Can Do Bad All By Myself

I Can Do Bad All By Myself

Drama · Comedy · 2009

When Madea catches teenage Jennifer and her two younger brothers looting her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands and delivers the young delinquents to the only relative they have: their aunt April. A heavy-drinking nightclub singer who lives off of her married boyfriend, April wants nothing to do with the kids.

Movie details

I Can Do Bad All By Myself

“Hope is closer than you think.”

2009 Drama · Comedy 1h 53m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

When Madea catches teenage Jennifer and her two younger brothers looting her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands and delivers the young delinquents to the only relative they have: their aunt April. A heavy-drinking nightclub singer who lives off of her married boyfriend, April wants nothing to do with the kids.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over I Can Do Bad All By Myself?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tyler Perry

Written by

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry

Madea

Taraji P. Henson

Taraji P. Henson

April

Adam Rodriguez

Adam Rodriguez

Sandio

Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige

Tanya

Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight

Wilma

Brian J. White

Brian J. White

Randy

Hope Olaidé Wilson

Hope Olaidé Wilson

Jennifer

Court is in session

Put I Can Do Bad All By Myself on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.