|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

58
Adam Resurrected
64
Appaloosa
69
Ashes of Time Redux
68
August Evening
54
Battle in Seattle
76
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
70
Black Balloon, The
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
51
Breakfast with Scot
xx
Cargo 200
63
Changeling
66
Che
84
Christmas Tale, A
93
Class, The
38
Dark Streets
57
Defiance
xx
Dostana
70
Doubt
62
Duchess, The
46
Dukes, The
63
Eden
xx
Extreme Movie
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
26
Filth and Wisdom
28
Fireproof
80
Frost/Nixon
43
Gardens of the Night
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
36
Good
54
Good Dick
73
Gran Torino
30
Guitar, The
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
31
Hounddog
26
House of the Sleeping Beauties
49
How About You
70
Hunger
72
I Served the King of England
70
I.O.U.S. A
40
Igor
79
I've Loved You So Long
64
JCVD
xx
Just Another Love Story
29
Lake City
59
Last Chance Harvey
82
Let the Right One In
31
Let Them Chirp Awhile
xx
Local Color
89
Man on Wire
74
Moscow, Belgium
36
My Name Is Bruce
28
Nobel Son
xx
Not Easily Broken
64
Nothing But the Truth
40
Other End of the Line, The
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
75
Pool, The
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
xx
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
82
Rachel Getting Married
58
Reader, The
56
Religulous
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
53
RocknRolla
64
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
77
Secret of the Grain, The
84
Silent Light
86
Slumdog Millionaire
57
Special
80
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
67
Synecdoche, New York
82
Tell No One
68
Theater of War
65
Timecrimes
83
Trouble the Water
43
Tru Loved
83
U2 3D
88
Waltz with Bashir
59
We Are Wizards
80
Wendy and Lucy
71
What Doesn't Kill You
55
What Just Happened?
61
Where God Left His Shoes
40
While She Was Out
81
Wrestler, The
xx
Yonkers Joe
93
Class, The
89
Man on Wire
88
Waltz with Bashir
86
Slumdog Millionaire
84
Christmas Tale, A
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
84
Silent Light
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Let the Right One In
81
Wrestler, The
80
Wendy and Lucy
80
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
80
Frost/Nixon
79
I've Loved You So Long
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
77
Secret of the Grain, The
76
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
75
Pool, The
74
Moscow, Belgium
73
Gran Torino
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
72
I Served the King of England
71
What Doesn't Kill You
70
Black Balloon, The
70
Hunger
70
Doubt
70
I.O.U.S. A
69
Ashes of Time Redux
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
68
August Evening
68
Theater of War
67
Synecdoche, New York
66
Che
65
Timecrimes
64
JCVD
64
Nothing But the Truth
64
Appaloosa
64
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
63
Changeling
63
Eden
62
Duchess, The
61
Where God Left His Shoes
59
Last Chance Harvey
59
We Are Wizards
58
Adam Resurrected
58
Reader, The
57
Special
57
Defiance
56
Religulous
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
55
What Just Happened?
54
Battle in Seattle
54
Good Dick
53
RocknRolla
51
Breakfast with Scot
49
How About You
46
Dukes, The
43
Tru Loved
43
Gardens of the Night
40
While She Was Out
40
Igor
40
Other End of the Line, The
38
Dark Streets
36
My Name Is Bruce
36
Good
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
31
Hounddog
31
Let Them Chirp Awhile
30
Guitar, The
29
Lake City
28
Nobel Son
28
Fireproof
26
House of the Sleeping Beauties
26
Filth and Wisdom
xx
Just Another Love Story
xx
Dostana
xx
Cargo 200
xx
Local Color
xx
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
xx
Not Easily Broken
xx
Yonkers Joe
xx
Extreme Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Family That Preys, The
Lionsgate
 |
|
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for thematic material, sexual references and brief violence
Starring
Kathy Bates,
Alfre Woodard,
Tyler Perry,
Cole Hauser,
Sanaa Lathan,
Rockmond Dunbar,
Taraji P. Henson,
and
Kadee Strickland
Wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright and her dear friend Alice Pratt, a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throughout many years. Suddenly, their lives become mired in turmoil as their adult children’s extramarital affairs, unethical business practices and a dark paternity secret threaten to derail family fortunes and unravel the lives of all involved. Alice’s self-centered newlywed daughter Andrea is betraying her trusting husband Chris by engaging in a torrid affair with her boss and mother’s best friend’s son William. While cheating on his wife Jillian with a string of ongoing dalliances with his mistress Andrea, William’s true focus is to replace the COO of his mother’s lucrative construction corporation. Meanwhile, Alice’s other daughter Pam, a kind but no nonsense woman married to a hard working construction worker, tries to steer the family in a more positive direction. (Lionsgate)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Tyler Perry
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Tyler Perry
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: January 13, 2009
Theatrical: September 12, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
111 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Thanks to some first-rate acting from its stars, it ranks among Perry's best.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Was it just three years ago that Perry made his feature debut with "Diary of a Mad Black Woman?" Then his filmmaking was strictly amateur; now his sweeping pans and portentous closeups approach those of Pedro Almódovar.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Farber
Woodard conveys the rock-solid values of a true Christian without ever falling into sappiness. Bates is enjoyably larger-than-life, as the role requires.

70
Variety
Peter Debruge
Bates and Woodard strike up a real dynamic, and picture gives the duo room to improvise, leading to one raucous scene after another as they Thelma-and-Louise it in a top-down convertible.

70
Los Angeles Times
Bob Baker
Dude, what made you refuse to screen your film for critics before it opened Friday? I'm betting you would have received an earful of praise for your writing and directing.

60
New York Daily News
Staff (Not credited)
Perry's notoriously overstuffed plots have sometimes been top-heavy, but this movie, like Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters," hangs on an elegant structure that doesn't feel forced.

58
Entertainment Weekly
Gregory Kirschling
All over the place:It's a boardroom/family/couples/road-trip story.

58
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Sam Adams
Perry deserves due respect for exploiting an untapped niche.

50
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Though better than most of Perry's broad comedies, The Family That Preys still suffers from excessive predictability and mawkish sentiment, which detracts from the story's believability.

50
LA Weekly
Chuck Wilson
What's memorable here is the sparkling chemistry between Bates and Woodard, whose scenes together are a pleasure to watch, even as one thinks that their next outing should be to co-teach a master class entitled, "How To Rise Above Cliché."

40
Austin Chronicle
Steve Davis
Contradictions abound in this messy and unfocused drama that purports to believe that family is everything, when all else fails.

40
Chicago Reader
Reece Pendleton
The usual mawkishness is made slightly more palatable by the two leads and by Perry himself.

38
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Family, sadly, is a plate of leftovers: a bland, baldly written melodrama about two longtime best friends and their messed-up families.

30
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
The suds that cascade through Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys more than equal the cubic footage from nighttime soaps like "Dallas," "Dynasty" and their offspring.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Read more user comments...
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|