Tyler Perry's Acrimony - a review.

So a couple of days back, I took myself on a movie date as usual and I went to see Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, starring Taraji P. Henson and Lyriq Bent. The movie, according to Henson, was shot within 8 days and her part was shot within 5 days. This probably explains some of the loopholes in the movie, cos honestly speaking it hardly hit the mark. Yeah, I said it.

It was just another of Tyler Perry’s regular recipe - a black woman who has been a
victim of abuse and eventually becomes the "mad black woman", only this time it was emotional abuse. There was little or no suspense in the movie, plot was too basic, the story although was a sad one doesn't exactly go with the lurid nightmare Melinda tried to paint to us at the beginning. I was also confused about the message @TylerPerry was trying to pass across. I mean was he teaching patience on the part of women or was he  encouraging men to remain jobless and feed off their women till the women have nothing left? Tyler got us really confused there.

Okay, here’s what happened in the movie. Henson who played the role of MELINDA fell in love with Bent who played the role of ROBERT, and she took us through her journey by narrating her story to an unseen therapist. Robert depended totally on Melinda’s share of her family's inheritance; she bought a car for him, paid his tuition fee, sponsored his battery invention, mortgaged her mother’s house and eventually lost it. Perry made it pretty obvious from the beginning that he was going to be a “no-good” husband. 

Robert and Melinda.

After 18 years of doing three jobs and putting up with a jobless husband who continued to drain her of everything she had and giving nothing back, Melinda was pressurized by her sisters to divorce him. Shortly after divorcing Robert, things began to work out for him and his battery invention was accepted by the company he had been applying to for years. He became a millionaire and did what some believe to be the height of treachery by getting married to the same classmate he cheated on Melinda with years ago, without even trying to keep Melinda.

Now the lady was “living Melinda’s life” - the life Robert promised her; this got Melinda bitter and enraged (here we got to see the Cookie part of Henson, lol). She was bitter majorly because Robert’s new wife was reaping the fruits of her labour. Her argument was that she paid Rob’s tuition and spent everything she had and was on his battery invention, the same invention that made him a millionaire - I think I totally understand her here. So, she was bent on revenge, and eventually in the course of her revenge two lives were lost.

Robert and his new wife.

There was actually a conflict of interest here, cos I wasn’t sure if Melinda had the right to be angry or not. I mean, you divorced him already and he hit the jackpot right after you divorced him. That’s life! Maybe you shouldn’t have divorced him in the first place, so MOVE ON GIRL! Then again, I’m like yo! She put up with this man for over 18 years, lost her ability to conceive, all that she had and the best part of her life all because of a man who was just sitting at home doing nothing other than abusing her emotionally and living off her. Yeah, she was right to divorce him, and now when he hit the jackpot and became a millionaire, he just went ahead and married a woman who sacrificed nothing for him? Nah bruhv, that’s way too cold. You deserve whatever Melinda brings your way. 

Tyler Perry really got us confused as to who was right or wrong in the movie, I know he’s a moralist and likes teaching morals with his movies, but Acrimony? Naah, the message was too conflicting and I personally felt like it was a Hack Job. The ending part was too judgemental - there’s punishment awaiting a woman who goes blind with rage and obsession even if she has been deeply wounded and everything good has been bled off her. I mean, she’s a woman who needs help, not judgement. The therapist in the movie also mentioned “Boderline Personality Disorder” indicating that she was mentally ill and it was brushed off almost immediately. If she was mentally ill, then doesn’t she need help instead of punishment?!

Acrimony ended on a rather shocking note. When the credits started rolling, the common question on everyone's lips was "That's it?". If there's one thing the movie succeeded in doing, it was dividing the cinema hall into two groups – those who believed that Melinda deserved what she got and others who thought Perry was too cruel on her, maybe that was his aim anyway, he wanted the audience to decide who was right and who was wrong.  I think the movie has more "Boderline Personality Disorder" than Melinda herself.