Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns

The multi-talented writer/director/actor Tyler Perry follows up his popular earlier films (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea’s Family Reunion) with another family portrayal and features the return of Madea, the fun loving grandma.

After being laid off, Brenda, the single mother of three, is at the end of her rope when she learns of the death of her father she never knew. Packing up the kids and heading to Georgia for the funeral introduces her to her father’s high-spirited family and a chance at romance. Stars Angela Bassett, Tyler Perry and David Mann. Rated PG-13.  — Bill White

Water

Deepa Mehta’s Water is set in 1938. Even then, laws existed in India that gave widows the freedom to marry, but as one character observes, “We do not always follow the law when it is inconvenient.” Torn from her father’s grasp, crying out for her mother, Chuyia (Sarala) disappears into an ashram controlled by the lifelong widows who live there. Her hair is cut off. She wears a white garment that marks her. The woman in charge is Madhumati (Manorma), fat, indolent and domineering, who is frightening to the little girl.



Water is the third film in a trilogy about India by Deepha Mehta, whose Earth (1998) dealt with the partition of India and Pakistan, and whose Fire (1996) dealt with lesbianism among traditional Indian women. She is not popular with Indian religious conservatives, and indeed after the sets for Water were destroyed and her life threatened, she had to move the entire production to Sri Lanka. That she is a woman and deals with political and religious controversy makes her a marked woman. Not rated. Three Stars. — Roger Ebert

Shutter

Newlyweds discover disturbing images in photographs they develop after a tragic accident. A decision to investigate further proves deadly. Makes me shutter. Rated PG-13 — BW