Tyler Perry & Oscar Talk

by Monica Medina

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the pre-screening of Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married?” with Tyler Perry in attendance–One of the cool benefits of running this beautiful thing they call GritsnCheese.com. It was an honor to be in the same room. I knew the film would be good, but I was not expecting that the film would be of an Oscar caliber: Tyler Perry’s new film “Why Did I Get Married?” is worthy of an Oscar nomination for Best Film of The Year. There should be some Oscar buzz floating around Jill Scott’s performance as well.

First, the script and writing is exceptional. There was nothing predictable about Perry’s way of unraveling the story line. The story centers around four couples that go to a couple’s retreat at the urging of Janet Jackson’s character, Patricia to focus on their marriage—for better or for worse. What started as one couple having a dark secret evolved into the dark secrets of the other three couples being revealed at the dinner table. The dinner table scene is a CLASSIC scene. The movie took some serious unexpected twists and turns. Moviegoers were at the edge of their seats. This is one of the very few movies that show Black couples fighting to holding on to their relationships. Be clear, this is not only a good African-American film. “Why Did I Get Married” is a good American film.