The timeline is sloppy, the town “crisis” clumsily handled and the supporting cast - save for the bawdy Larry and Najimy - couldn’t find a laugh if their lives depended on it. He toys with race, side-stepping into a couple of KKK jokes and making Eileen less than tolerant of “The Help”, which is what she believes Connor is. What Perry doesn’t know about farming would fill a better movie than this. Najimy matches Madea’s word-botching, calling Madea everything from “Medium” to “Mrs. Madea-prop tells Lacey’s students “the story of the Nativitease. Malaprop, a character from an 18th century play. Madea is famous for her malapropisms, mispronounced words in the manner of Mrs. When Connor’s parents (Larry the Cable Guy, Kathy Najimy) arrive, there’s almost no room at the inn. When Eileen, Madea and Oliver show up, things get complicated.

Lacey’s secret love, Conner (Eric Lively) is a college-trained crop specialist who somehow never learned which cows in his herd actually give the milk. Times are hard in Buck Tussle, with farmers like Tanner (Chad Michael Murray) taking out his frustration on his wife (Alicia Witt) and son, Bailey (Noah Urrea). It’s a town about to lose its Christmas festival due to lack of funds, until Lacey’s ex-beau Oliver (JR Lemon) steps in and finds a corporate (and secular) sponsor. Lacey’s a black teacher to a class full of white kids in tiny Buck Tussle (not to be confused with Bug Tussle), Alabama. But Eileen (Anna Maria Horsford), her overbearing colleague, talks her into driving with her on a surprise Christmas visit to Eileen’s school teacher daughter, Lacey (Tika Sumpter). Madea is fired from her department store greeter gig thanks to assorted “slap the Hell outta you” threats. Their scenes at least have a little spark to them. country music or what have you and produced a funnier movie. That bad.Īnd truth be told, Perry and Larry, two old pros at low comedy, could have done a simple two character farce, bickering about bigotry, hip hop vs.

How bad is this tale of race, “Taking the Christ out of Christmas” and trouble down on the farm? You can’t wait for Larry the Cable Guy to show up. Give him respect for making an effort to go against the cultural grain, making a black female character a racist, spouting retrograde sentiments about how all a bully needs is a punch in the mouth and embracing the “War Against Christmas” meme of conservative news outlets.īut from its unfunny Madea-in-customer-service opening to the abrupt thud of a finale, on into the seriously stiff outtakes that cover the closing credits, “Christmas” is his worst Madea movie ever.

So a tip of the Santa hat for him trying to broaden his appeal by pandering to a white one with “A Madea Christmas,” his most integrated movie ever. Tyler Perry made his fortune by pandering to a predominantly African American audience.

Cast of madea christmas movie