There's more life, more heart, more simple pleasure in "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" than in any Tyler Perry movie since his first, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."
He stages a decent fistfight, a riveting and potentially deadly showdown in a bathtub and half a dozen big, moving musical numbers. He gives his cross-dressing creation Madea a botched Bible stories monologue ("That's when Noah showed up, with his Arch, the St. Louis Arch ... ") that ranks as the funniest thing that pistol-packing mama ever did.
And he builds his film around the terrific Taraji P. Henson, who proves her "Benjamin Button" Oscar nomination was no fluke by utterly classing up the joint — and singing, to boot.
"All by Myself" still has scenes, characters and dialogue that cry out for more polish. By shoving half a dozen songs — gospel, funk and soul — into the film, Perry shows he still hasn't mastered pace and learned to sacrifice scenes to make his movies faster and smoother.
