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Avg. Critic Score: 36 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    A bad movie so over-the-top that at moments it's almost good - or, at least, more arresting than it has any right to be. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    While the jokes are obvious and the romance formulaic, a good-natured sensibility saves the film from being too hokey. The individual parts may not work, but the sum remains entertaining. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Sheri Linden

    In an awkward split-personality way, it works some of the time. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    Harris and particularly Elise give over-the-top performances that bring Diary to the edge of soap opera. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    An ungainly hodgepodge of vaudeville-style comedy, turgid soap-operatics, and joyful epiphanies of gospel-flavored uplift. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    Blows to the head are delivered with more subtlety than the message of Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    So oblivious to genre that it occupies its own special stylistic niche, if you can imagine such a thing as a romantic revenge farce. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Thomas

    These characters, which Perry worked into the narrative from other stage performances, may have been entertaining in those venues, but they undermine the film. Read full review

  • 30
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    Sure, I laughed. Yes, I cried. But mostly I just wanted to throw up. Read full review

  • 25
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The Grandma is not merely wrong for the movie, but fatal to it -- a writing and casting disaster... I've been reviewing movies for a long time, and I can't think of one that more dramatically shoots itself in the foot. Read full review

View more reviews for Diary of a Mad Black Woman on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Syrupy drama -- not much here for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie includes painful confrontations, violence (including shooting and assault), drinking, drug use, and sexual references. One strength of the movie is its unabashed portrayal of religious conviction as a mainstay for believers. Another is its depiction of the careful consideration and commitment that should be involved in deciding when to become sexually involved. The movie also benefits from its portrayal of strong and devoted women and African-American characters
  • Families can talk about why Helen was willing to give up so much of herself for Charles.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Some violence, including a shooting, domestic violence.
  • sex false3 Sex: Sexual references and situations, adultery, out of wedlock children.
  • language false3 Language: Some tough and mean language.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Characters include drug addict, drug dealer.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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