The
Single Moms Club
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Tyler Perry Tribute to Motherhood Arrives on DVD
Fast-food
waitress Lytia (Cocoa Brown) survives paycheck to paycheck and has to rely on
public transportation to get around. By contrast, Jan (Wendi
McLendon-Covey), an ambitious executive at a
prominent publishing company, has many modern amenities and a luxury automobile
at her disposal.
Meanwhile, May
(Nia Long) is unemployed but dreams of a career in journalism. Then there’s
Hillary (Amy Smart), a recent divorcee who’s a bit overwhelmed about the
prospect of raising her kids alone in suburbia. And finally, frightened
Esperanza (Zulay
Henao) has been reduced to cowering and hiding from
an abusive ex-husband (Eddie Cibrian) who has continued to threaten her long
after their separation.
At first blush,
it probably sounds like these five females would have little in common, let
alone a reason to cross paths. But that’s exactly what transpires when they’re
all summoned to the principal’s office at West Merryville Prep where they each
have a child who has just been put on probation for disciplinary reasons like
smoking and spray painting graffiti.
At the meeting,
Principal Walters (Carrie L. Walrond) leaves the parents no choice but to
co-chair the school’s annual fundraising dance. However, this is easier said
than done, given that the five, frazzled single-moms are not only bordering on
burnout, but are unaccustomed to interacting with folks from the other side of
the tracks.
They grudgingly
agree to organize the soiree, but can these black, white and Latino women even
get past their considerable class and cultural differences? That is the concern
established at the outset of The Single Moms Club, a humor-driven tale of
female empowerment played more for laughs than for serious enlightenment.
Written, produced
and directed by and co-starring Tyler Perry, the picture first pits the
protagonists against one another before having them gradually see their
similarities as overburdened sole providers. At that point, they create an
informal association which basically functions as a babysitting support group
as well as an excuse to share a weekly girls’ night to decompress by singing
karaoke, watching hunky men strip, and trading relationship advice about the
battle-of-the-sexes.
Tyler tweaks his familiar, morality play
formula here by toning down the sermonizing this go-round in favor of going
more for laughs. Of course, before the closing credits outtakes roll, he makes
sure his heroines conveniently bond into a tight-knit band of sisters whose
lovers and little monsters are all behaving again.
An
unabashedly-sentimental salute to single-moms from all walks of life!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated
PG-13 for sexuality and mature themes
Running
time: 111 minutes
Distributor:
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: “The Single Moms Sisterhood” and “The Men’s Club”
featurettes.
To
see a trailer for The Single Moms Club, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQNOvfixtpo\\\
To
order a copy of The Sing\le Moms Club Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:
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