Lately, there has been a lot of online discourse surrounding Tyler Perry and his preference for the usual tropes which have long been perpetuated in the black community: the angry black woman exhausted from having one disaster after another thrown at her, her philandering lover who breaks her heart to smithereens, the mammy figure who spends all night praying for her, and finally the heart throb who whisks her away to church to make everything better.
People love to come at Tyler Perry for the kinds of movies he makes.
And yes, even I’ve had my reservation at times.
But I respect that man for one thing, he stuck to what worked for HIM.
In the end, his movies YOU don’t like, others did and made him a millionaire.
— Miss Forson (@lydiaforson) January 17, 2020
I’ve seen a combination of all or some of these elements recycled and played out in almost every Tyler Perry film: Diary of a Mad Black Woman, For Colored Girls, Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counsellor, Why Did I Get Married? and Acrimony to name a few. A Fall from Grace is his latest offering which is a collaboration with Netflix.
And honestly, you need to watch it.
Me after watching A fall from Grace! I’m not sure what black woman/women hurt Tyler Perry, but his depiction of black women as broken, angry, bitter, lost, needs saving, out for revenge, or jealous is horrible and ridiculous. #AFallFromGrace pic.twitter.com/8K1G5RwtQS
— Stacey Parham (@staceyp1970) January 17, 2020
A Fall From Grace is about Grace Waters (Crystal Fox) who is awaiting trial for murdering her husband. The film begins with Grace clad in a prison jumpsuit. She has been let out of her holding cell to meet and recount her story to her lawyer, the young Jasmine Bryant (Bresha Webb)
Tyler Perry plays Rory, Jasmine’s grumpy boss who is very clear about Grace’s case being open and shut. After all, She’s pleading guilty anyway and all the evidence points to that. But Jasmine and Rory bump heads when she insists that Grace should actually opt for a not-guilty plea as there’s more to her story.
What is Grace’s story?
We go back in time as Grace as begins to recount her experiences. She’s a 50 something divorcee who works in the financial services industry She’s a victim of infidelity and so not very trusting of men and has thus decided to focus the rest of her life to helping the poor and attending church with her best friend Sarah (Phylicia Rashad) – pay attention now!
This is until she meets the charming and debonaire artist Shannon (Mehcad Brooks). He’s young – significantly younger than her, charming and exciting. The two embark on a whirlwind romance which very quickly leads to marriage. Things go left from there. When she’s found to have siphoned over $300,000 from her accounts at work, loses her job and almost loses her home in the process it becomes clear that Mr. Perfect is actually a thief, user, cheater and emotional abuser who has walked into Grace’s life to get rich off her. It gets all too much for Grace and one evening she takes a bat and bludgeons Shannon to death. It is this act which leads to her arrest. We are brought back into the present as Grace’s trial start.
Too much of the same thing?
As you can see, so far we have the usual ingredients which make up the typical Tyler Perry sauce. But this one is with a twist. It surprised me pleasantly, and if you’re going to watch this film, I implore you to stay patient with it until the end.
Would I recommend this film? Yes, I would definitely. I enjoyed seeing Phylicia Rashad and Cicely Tyson on my screen and to be honest it is an entertaining film. And like Acrimony, it started off a lively debate in my home about which character was really at fault. But I felt like I had watched this film before – only with a different title and different character names. Also, I felt some of the characters’ stories weren’t properly wrapped up. (What happened to Jasmine?)
I wish Tyler Perry would diversify his characters and storylines a bit more. I would like to see black women have fun, go on holiday, eat ice cream, wear colourful clothes (without a heartbreaking Casanova lurking in the shadows waiting to ruin her life.)
Let me know whether you’ll be watching A Fall from Grace. And if you have, let me know your thoughts.
Running time : 1h 55
Rating: n/a
(Images are courtesy of Netflix)
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