Why Did I Get Married?

Four married couples (Tyler Perry and Sharon Leal; Janet Jackson and Malik Yoba; Jill Scott and Richard T. Jones; and Tasha Smith and Michael Jai White) gather annually for a week-long retreat, in which they ask themselves the film’s title question as a means of renewing and affirming their commitments—but this year, things take quite a different course. Writer-director Perry adapts his own play (filmed direct-to-video with a different cast in 2006) and plays it straight (no Madea drag) this time. The added work from stage to screen bears fruit: the characters are less cardboard, the dialogue less awkward than in some of Perry’s other movies, even when the story veers from “Tell it, sistah!” comedy to domestic soap opera. The movie has a glossy Ross Hunter shine, and the ensemble cast is likeable.