Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
PG-13 | 12 September 2008 (USA)
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys Trailers

Wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright and her dear friend Alice Pratt, a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throughout several decades. Recently, their lives have become mired in turmoil as their adult children’s extramarital affairs, unethical business practices, and a dark secret threaten to derail family fortunes and unravel the lives of all involved. Charlotte and Alice decide to take a breather from it all by making a cross-country road trip in which they rediscover themselves and possibly find a way to save their families from ruin.

Reviews
Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
zacharyallen918 The characters, the office atmosphere most importantly the office affair, the marital tension between Andrea & Chris and her attitude towards him ever since she began her affair is spot on.. I hate this movie because of its authenticity but at the same time I praise it for that very thing. One of Tyler Perry's best, if not his best. It unfortunately hit home for me, which is why I can't help but watch it everytime it comes on. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you watch it, you'll be surprised as I was. Zach Reynolds/Oklahoma
carltonwheatley05 Note that this is a review from a biased, Tyler Perry hating, reviewer. I haven't liked Tyler Perry since he was solely making screenplays. But to get that out of the way, I will also note that I am writing this on my tablet and the spelling might be a little off.★ Don't Forget That This Does Contain Spoilers ★The story follows an upper class business owning family that has strong connections with a middle class family (and branch family). It is immediately apparent that Andrea (Lathan), who is having an affair with William (Hauser), has been having said affair for so long that she believes that she is better than her own family. Making it totally known that they are both antagonists of this film... and now to meet the protagonists. Charlotte (Bates) and Alice (Woodard) the mothers of the two antagonists and there is the incredibly faithful, god fearing husband (of Andrea) Chris (Dunbar) that is too dumb to see that his wife is not interested him in the slightest. From watching the film for the first time, I was very upset with how Perry portrays Chris as the lovable idiot/martyr. Tyler Perry hates black men and it's evident in all of his work, as all of the black men are either complete A**h***s or too dumb to know when they are being done wrong. But I have digressed. The story pretty much follows an intra company takeover attempt by William to take control of his mother's company. In the middle of all of this, Chris eventually asks Andrea if she is sleeping with William (I mean, there son is mixed, you realize that he's Williams bastard as soon as you see him). William gives Andrea a slap from the depths of hell (she kinda deserves it for playing the dumby for this long), and of course everything works out well with Chris at the end while everything winds up horribly for Andrea. The final twist of the film is that Charlotte has given her company to Alice and William didn't even know until she makes a grand stand. So now William isn't able to take control of the company... All in all, the Protagonists win and the antagonists lose. Now for my review, I must state that I absolutely hate how cut and dry Tyler Perry movies end. But I must say that this movie was much better than his last films because of the cast. At points though you hate Chris more than anyone because he's so dumb. I gave this a 7/10 because of the acting, the (though unlikely) ending twist but most of all because Chris was able to slap the evil Andrea. (Now I must note that I am not a woman beater and I don't condone hitting a woman unless absolutely necessary, but if you've watched this movie you will want to stand up when you see the slap). In just reading my last sentence I have changed my rating to an 8/10 because the movie did what it was intended. It made me hate some characters (while not successful in the right characters) and made me adore some characters. This movie is worth watching just to see if you can agree to whether Andrea should have gotten slapped.
dougnoneyobusiness For some reason, I think that people, their sickening racial prejudices or whatever have influenced a lot of the votes on Tyler Perry's work.I've worked in independent film and am a writer and honestly, just discovered his work and have watched four or five of his films this week and I really think some jealousy for a young talented black man is going on because none of these films have reached the level of the garbage that usually elicits these number through these pages.Not all his stuff is meant to be taken seriously, but this work for example is and has a great ensemble cast and it worked beautifully.I don't understand the vote, but this was well done, technically perfect, and tender and ruthless and quite perfect in this film maker's views.Bravo Tyler...keep 'em coming.One thing that made me avoid these is they always emblazoned everything Tyler, but he deserves some credit...and the likes of Bates and Woodward, these guys are academy award winning and level actresses. They don't just work with anybody.He wrote it. He produced it. He directed it. He played a bit part. What do you want to give the man no credit as if he had nothing to do with the film?His stage plays have done over $75 million in sales across America and didn't need some gimmick like Cats, and this is a self made man basically. He wasn't born with some silver spoon in his mouth and eventually, as he does more drama, he's going to get an Academy Award in his life time at this rate.
BronzeKeilani26 After reading a few of the first reviews here awhile back I didn't think The Family That Preys would be anything outstanding. A few days ago I overheard people talking about how good it was so I came back to read more reviews. Several were so hyped that it convinced me I may be wrong, and boy was I ever! This film did not get the press it deserved! Films like these help to dispel all the ghetto stereotypes that Hollywood tends to perpetuate. Yes it was refreshing to see middle class black families intermingling w/ whites and the closeness between Alice and Charlotte. I'm so glad I didn't pass this movie up, I LOVED IT!!!! The casting was perfect. All the acting was believable and the chemistry was intense. Alfre Woodard also played Sanaa Lathan's mother in Something New but this film was waaay more realistic and much better! I could relate to the relationships in this movie. This is a mature more sophisticated story on the ups and downs in marriage, family relationships and friendships. Oh don't get me wrong, it doesn't stop there. There's a few "very interesting" sub-plots but I won't give it away. If I wasn't crying (or laughing), I was smiling through out the entire film. Kathy Bates as usual give a solid performance. She comes across as a very sweet, genuine woman and friend with a son whose a piece of work. I'm a huge fan of hers and Taraji Henson! Taraji should be going home with an Oscar soon if she keeps going the way she's going. That's my girl and she's on a roll, lol! Dahm I love watching her act! Robyn Givens surprises us with a good, solid performance also, a true professional, and her timing was on point! Everyone was so engrossed in movie and acting we couldn't take our eyes of the screen, lol. It's one of those movies you wish there wasn't an ending to, seriously. Hurry up and go see it! It's a fun flick!