Meet the Browns

A Chicago working-class mother (Angela Bassett) takes her three kids to Georgia for the funeral of the father she never knew—and to meet their newfound family. Bassett can play this kind of part in her sleep, and it’s to her credit that she doesn’t. But that’s about it on the plus side for this latest sausage from writer-director Tyler Perry, recycling yet another script from one of his plays and direct-to-video movies. It’s the customary mix of soap-opera melodrama, loudmouth comedy and sentimental schmaltz that has proven so successful with Perry’s fans. This time, the bulk of the comedy goes to David Mann as Bassett’s crass cousin, though Perry himself, unwilling to stay off camera, does a pointless double cameo: in drag as his alter ego Madea, and in age makeup as Madea’s doddering boyfriend Joe.