The Family That Preys (2008) User Reviews

Very good film

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 25 April 2017]

What I find interesting about the most negative reviews of participants who contributed is how trite many of them are. For example -- it's soap opera-ish. I guess almost any film can be that. The characters seem stereotyped. Well, I don't see many films where characters are that unique. And then there are the reviews where they just want to beat up on Tyler Perry. Now I don't think that every Tyler Perry film has been that great, but I also don't think any of them have been that bad. He has matured in his film-making.

I think this was a very good film. It certainly held my interest. It begins with white socialite Kathy Bates hosting the wedding of Sanaa Lathan, the daughter of Alfre Woodard. The problem is that the husband to be (Rockmond Dunbar) is a much better man than his future wife is an honest and considerate woman. He's "just" a construction worker, while she's in corporate. And she never lets him forget that. And, he works for her boss...with whom she is having an affair. Meanwhile, Woodard's other daughter (Taraji P. Henson) is married to Tyler Perry, another construction worker, and looks after Lathan's young son while also working in her mother's diner. She is bothered by how little Lathan helps their mother, not knowing that mom is secretly quite well off. The hubby later discovers his wife's huge bank account after he is turned down for a loan application to start his own construction business...money she earns in bonuses...but what she does for that money is actually weekly booty calls with the boss. Meanwhile, Cathy Bates' son is trying to take her business away from her, not even knowing that she is showing signs of early Alzhiemers. Bates and Woodard are sort of the odd couple best friends of the story. They end up going on a road trip where the illness becomes known, and they return home in time to save the company (albeit perhaps a bit too conveniently...though cleverly). But while on their road trip they have some fun times in honky tonks and male strip clubs. Of course, the affair becomes public, but only after a new executive joins the firm -- Robin Givens. And then there's the funeral, the breakup of the failed marriage, and the sale of the diner.

I enjoyed the cast here. Alfre Woodard is always enjoyable. As is Kathy Bates. It's difficult to like Sanaa Lathan here, but she is a good actress. I was not particularly impressed with Cole Hauser as the philanderer, although KaDee Strickland as his wife was fairly good. Rockmond Dunbar was excellent. Tyler Perry was "okay" in terms of his acting, although he gave himself little to do. It's a calmer Taraji P. Henson as the sister, but I liked her better here than in "Empire", which seems a little over the top.

What can I say? I enjoyed the film.

Not a definite case of 'Mwah', but still

[The_Melancholic_Alcoholic · 7/10 · 17 September 2008]

****** Heavily Spoilered ********

****** Heavily Spoilered ********

****** Heavily Spoilered ********

I thought the film title would have been better suited for a horror movie: "The Family That Preys Together" ? Actually, I downloaded this on a whim, I read the title, I saw the films poster vaguely and thought, wow this must be a vampire movie with an African American female lead, now THáT'S interesting ... But when it turned to be a completely different movie, a film even, it was okay too.

While I admire Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates, I don't think this film is destined for greatness. I don't exactly know what it is about it that was just a tiny bit off, but I'm guessing it's the more or less boilerplate story lines. You can see from the very beginning that Hauser and Lathan are gonna have an affair. To be fair, the 'Thelma & Louise' plot surprised me somewhat and the death of Bates was only to be expected ... on hindsight.

Also, the cast is somewhat type-casted. Dunbar is portraying the gullible sympathetic husband, and Cole Hauser the Bad Son, whose ambition drives him to take too much risks, which makes him an easy target for businessmen with bad intentions. Tyler Perry himself is the positive likable character, albeit with a somewhat risk avoiding behaviour. But, as a filmmaker he adheres to the rule that there should always be some likable minor characters. That he chooses himself to be that is not something bad or good in itself.

To be classed as 'Great Drama', the characters are a bit too flat. The 'evil' ones, William Carthwright (Hauser) and Abigail Evans (Lathan) could have been a teeny bit more sympathetic. And Chris (Rockmond Dunbar) could have been a little less sympathetic. Bates and Woodard (is she the Grand Old Lady of Afro-American Actors now? ;)) do their thing, which they do so well. Tyler Perry does us a great service by writing strong roles for older women.

The acting is great though, with the minor exception of Sanaa Lathan not being entirely convincing in the break-up scene with Cole Hauser. Other than that she was really convincing as the Evil Golddigging Jilted Lover Biyatch. I've only seen her in AVP, but here, she acts her socks off.

In the end, it is a great and gripping saga of the rise and fall of the overly ambitious cheaters and the victory of the meek and humble. This, however, is also why it's very Hollywood.

Film Filled with Deceit and Surprises Satisfies

[fredk_us · 7/10 · 19 January 2009]

Another film filled with secrets and surprises. Good set-up of plot and characters, if a bit predictable. Writer, director, producer, actor Tyler Perry (best known for his "Big Momma" franchise) goes for a bittersweet comedy-drama that delivers well. We were quite satisfied with the story and filming. A lot of restraint (no one swears in the film, for example) and non-preachy religious themes. We sat through the credits. Great song sung by Gladys Knight. Woodard's arc is grand. Definitely recommended. Perry is evolving well in his milieu as his empire grows. A fun update of Southern Gothic genre and good performances all round, save for Taraji P. Henson, who is all tics and gestures. Surprised at the IMDb fan-base low rating ( <3/10 ). Perry is a natural to bring our "Hayes Hotel" musical to the big screen or Atlanta and Broadway! - Frederic Kahler

Typical Perry

[keiichi73 · 2/10 · 13 September 2008]

Tyler Perry's back to his old tricks with The Family That Preys - A film that is just as manipulative and as ham-fisted of a melodrama as some of his earlier work. The only saving grace are a pair of performances at the center.

Those performances come from Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard. They play the matriarchs of two very different families who have been friends for the past 30 years. Their characters come from very different worlds. Bates plays Charlotte Cartwright, a wealthy tycoon who is in danger of losing control of her company as her greedy son William (Cole Hauser) plots to slowly get rid of her influence and power in the business. Woodard plays Alice Pratt, a God-fearing middle class woman who runs a local diner, and likes to help the homeless on the side. The two actresses have great chemistry together during their subplot, which concerns them leaving their troubles behind for a little while, and going on a cross country road trip. Their performances are almost enough to make us forget just how poorly they've been written in Perry's screenplay. Take for example the fact that Charlotte seems to suffer from a split personality. Usually when she's around Alice, she's a fun and spirited woman. But whenever she's alone, she comes across as a cold and unfeeling millionaire right out of an 80s prime time soap opera like Dallas. Unfortunately, this won't be the last time I use the word soap opera in this review.

That's because The Family That Preys isn't really about the two women I just mentioned, it's about their intertwined family, and the numerous betrayals, affairs, and other ludicrous overstuffed plots that would be right at home in any afternoon soap. Let's just see how many plots there are. The first concerns Alice's daughter, Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) having an affair with Charlotte's previously mentioned son, William. Andrea's husband, Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), works as a construction worker for William's company, and has no idea about their bedroom meetings behind his back, even though it's painfully obvious to everyone else. Poor Chris comes across as the slowest guy in the world, as he frequently stares the obvious in the face, and chooses to look the other way until the screenplay decides to finally give him a clue. Chris and his best friend on the construction crew, Ben (Tyler Perry), want to start their own construction company, but Ben doesn't know if they should take the chance, despite the urgings of his wife, Pam (Taraji P. Henson), who just happens to be Alice's other daughter. Meanwhile, William's wife, Jillian (KaDee Strickland) is a bit more on the ball than Chris is, and suspects her husband's affair. Not only that, there's another woman worked into the story named Abby (Robin Givens) who has just been hired to the company by Charlotte, much to the anger of William, since he wanted the position and is upset that his mom didn't give it to him.

All this, and I still haven't mentioned the mysterious homeless person (Sebastian Siegel) whom Alice helps out, and eventually ends up playing a part in the plot. There's also friction between Charlotte and William's wife, because Charlotte never approved of her, although the movie doesn't go very deep into this. And yes, there's also that previously mentioned road trip between Charlotte and Alice as they go on a trip of self discovery, while stopping at various cowboy bars and male strip joints along the way. (Because this is a Tyler Perry movie, Charlotte also stops to get baptized at one point.) Watching this movie, you can almost picture Tyler Perry writing this screenplay after a marathon viewing of his daytime TV soaps. The writing, direction, and storytelling is all on the same level here. He does his best to juggle the film's various plots, but they never come together. It's jarring the way the movie constantly jumps between its numerous characters and plots. It seems that Perry had a hard time squeezing them all in, as some get more attention than others. The whole affair situation between William and Andrea gets the most attention, but even that never seems to truly build anywhere. The characters just keep on going through the same motions over and over, while Andrea's husband Chris begins to resemble an unintentional running gag with how clueless he is about everything.

The only aspect of the film that does work are the scenes between Bates and Woodard, and that's more due to their screen presence than the material the film gives them. If the movie had trimmed away all lamebrained corporate backstabbing and affairs and just centered on them, I may have been able to forgive the sometimes dopey dialogue between them, and the last minute revelation about Bates' character that cries out of desperation. The Family That Preys obviously wants to tackle some heavy issues, but everything's been written in Perry's trademark over the top style. This makes it hard to identify with just about anyone who walks into the frame of the camera. The only character who does come across as a genuine human is the one Perry has written for himself, and unfortunately, he plays a minor role in everything. Given his somewhat genuine performance here, it's hard to believe that this is the same guy who dresses in drag and a fat suit for his most famous portrayal. Perry fans will be glad to know that his Madea character will be back in his next film, Madea Goes to Jail. Everyone else has been warned.

Seriously good, watch it before you rate it, please

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 8/10 · 15 September 2008]

I had the opportunity to see The Family that Preys this weekend, this is my second Tyler Perry movie, to be honest from what I've seen, I think I may check out his other movies, because I do like what I've seen so far. The Family that Preys is seriously one of the better films I've seen so far in September, it's an honest drama that keeps your attention, it was also very touching. In some ways this was the female version of The Bucket List, even as it was hard to watch, it was still an incredibly moving movie. The chemistry between Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard was just dead on and you really believed in their friendship. I also loved the side story between the two sisters and their husbands, one sister who is rich and spoiled with a good husband who is in major denial about what his wife really is, the other sister who wishes for her husband to keep his head up and live his dream. Tyler Perry pulls in a good family story that will have you smiling at the end.

Alice and Charlotte are best friends, Charlotte is a rich business woman who's son wants to take over her company, she's rooting for a different C.O.O. that she hand picks, Abby, who is a strong woman who is working her way to the top. Alice is a struggling woman who Charlotte asks if they can go on a road trip together, she agrees, they go across country enjoying the last bits of life. But what they don't realize is that at home Alice's daughter, Andrea, is sleeping her way to the top behind her loving husband's back, her other daughter is begging for her husband to live his dreams, and Charlotte's son is just a sleaze who will step on anyone to get to the top.

The Family that Preys is seriously a very good movie, it will not disappoint you. I'm really disappointed in a lot of these ratings. I believe there are some users lately who don't even see the movie, they just rate it a low number just because they don't like who's the star or whoever is making the film, please, you have to trust me on this film, it's a little treasure and a very strong film that will remind you to not take life for granted, stay strong, and remain proud of who you are. The script had extremely well written lines and I loved the representation of the hardship of being a woman trying to compete in a man's working world, not to sound horrible, but I imagine that's even harder for an African American woman and this movie just inspires you that it is possible to stay strong and work hard, keep the faith, and good things will come to you. This is a fantastic movie, I highly recommend it.

8/10

A Fair Film

[LovGyrl · 7/10 · 13 September 2008]

I saw this film last night in the theater with a packed audience. It is the first time that I've ever attended one of Perry's films on an opening night. Quite an experience. Overall I thought the film was okay. There were some major potholes that left me wondering... Bate's and Woodard's performances were by far the best, and I think Tyler Perry could have had a very successful film if he had concentrated on the friendship between those two women alone. There were so many other story lines going on at once - perhaps too many, but a movie about two friends, one with Alzheimer's, the other one intent on helping her ailing friend enjoy her life by taking a road trip, meeting interesting people along the way, would have been a gripping, good story, one perhaps in which Bates and Woodard might have been nominated for an Oscar. As an audience member I greatly appreciated the scenes where these two stellar actresses were on camera together. In my opinion, they were the best part of the entire movie. The dysfunctional relationships between Andrea and Chris and William and Jillian are typical. There was nothing new or creative in their situations. With regard to Chris and Andrea, they never seem to be on the same course - each wants to do their own thing. As far as William and Jillian - we know very little about their relationship. So much attention is paid to the affair between Andrea and William and so little is paid to the two marriages, that you end up saying "who cares about these marriages anyway". As far as affairs go, it seems a bit unrealistic that they would be so sloppy in covering up their indiscretion. And are we to believe that they went so far as to use company money to further their illicit affair. This makes no sense considering how much money William has. Why wouldn't he pay for a motel in cash? Both parties knew about the "no fraternization policy" yet they wouldn't take precautions to ensure that they wouldn't be caught and fired. I understand that this storyline is a writer/director's choice, but it doesn't seem realistic. The fact that Chris would ask money from William to start a construction company that would directly compete with Cartwright Industries makes Chris' character come off as weak and ill prepared. You don't really root for him either - except perhaps to encourage him to leave his wife. And actually I thought she should leave him since she seemed to detest him greatly. This is the man; however, who goes to the bank to ask for a loan wearing overalls. Sorry, I wouldn't invest in his "dream company" either, but this also gives credence to the fact as to why his wife might be embarrassed of him. I kept wishing that just once he would wear a suit to an interview and have a business plan or proposal in writing. Lastly, Alice (Woodard's character) is a millionaire?! What the heck? She does not use her money to build a better restaurant or to help her poor daughter and son-in law. Yet, she watches her daughter practically beg for $300 from Andrea. This left me scratching my head. No doubt Alice knew of Chris and Ben's desire to start a construction company, a venture if profitable, would have helped her daughters and her grandson. Yet it never occurred to hear to say, "I'm a millionaire, I'll loan you $300,000." Her only response to her daughter's question about her being a millionaire at the end is "You didn't ask." Come on. Don't get me started on the homeless millionaire. I wish Perry's storyline had been more developed, but so much attention was paid to Andrea/Chris/William/Jillian, that some of the stronger story lines, like the homeless man Nick, were never fully developed. I liked certain elements - Alice and Charlotte's story lines being the best. The acting was done well, even with the characters who were two dimensional. I really wondered about the overall message of the movie. Perry always has a message within his movies, but this one was so convoluted that the message was almost lost. A rule of thumb is to stick to "one" message. He seemed to try to cram several into this one movie. All in all, I think Tyler Perry's movies are progressively getting better. This is his most diversified cast yet and his stories are slowly breaking out of the stereotypical "black box," in which we blacks are so often put. I'm hoping that he will realize his strengths and see that he doesn't have to cram five story lines into one movie, because this weakens the individual story lines. And it comes across as rushed and underdeveloped. With regard to this movie he had the potential to make four our five separately strong movies thus giving proper development to the characters and their story lines. I believe he has the potential and I look forward to seeing the manifestation of that in his future films.

5 stars

[randyhopping · 4 March 2019]

This is a great movie about business with morals and wit. Superb performance by all actors and actresses. Worth watching more than once

Tyler Perry Is Lame...Period

[ansonee · 1/10 · 17 January 2009]

I still to this very day do not understand why people continue to give Tyler Perry a free ride. His "body of work" sucks!! Let's see...I'll play a big fat, loud, obnoxious, uneducated, overbearing, stereotypical Black woman. And because Tyler does it, it's okay. But God forbid if a white director/screenwriter did it, he'd be IMMEDIATELY skewered. What else...oh yeah...House of Payne?!?!? Really?!?!? Could there be a sh*ttier show??? I am so sick of my brethren (yes...I'm Black) b**ching about why "we" all don't back Tyler.

I don't care if you're Asian, Black, White, Indian (dot and feather), or whatever. If your stuff stinks, it stinks!!! Period.

I'm losing my faith in IMDb ratings...

[levihambrick · 8/10 · 14 June 2010]

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys is a great drama that delivers both a great storyline and a great moral compass. I watched it on TV half an hour ago, and when I came to check it out here on IMDb, I was absolutely shocked that it only has 3.3 stars!

Tyler Perry does a great job of setting up scenarios filled with broken people in broken relationships, just struggling to get through life. Without giving too much away, he presents people in poverty, wealthiness, friendship, and infidelity, so there's always something you can relate to, either by personal experience, or through someone you know.

If you haven't seen this movie yet---GO SEE IT!!! Don't let the extremely low rating fool you. I'm white, young, liberal, and still enjoyed it, so you don't have an excuse either. :)

Yeah, Folks Need to Calm Down

[bblack1-699-968577 · 7/10 · 1 June 2013]

The trailer and previews for this movie really got me excited to see it, and, thankfully, it did not disappoint! "The Family that Preys" is a really good movie! I really like it! I don't know if I'd say it's as good as "Why Did I Get Married" or "Madea's Family Reunion," but it's still pretty good! This movie is a great drama, and you can see the tension between these two families. It's kind of a tragedy when you think about it; the matriarchs of the two families, Charlotte and Alice, are best friends, and yet their families are preying against themselves. Charlotte, head of the Cartwright Company, has a son, William, who is a big head at the company, and is sleeping with one of the employees, Andrea, who is one of Alice's daughters. He promises that he'll marry her, but he really won't because he's not going to leave his wife. Not only do the families prey against each other, but they prey against themselves, too. Andrea is married too, and continues to verbally abuse her husband, Chris. She also tries her best to stay away from the rest of her family: her mother and her sister, Pam. William also seems to have a strong hatred for his mother...Well, maybe he doesn't hate her, but the love is on sabbatical. He wants to vote her out of the company and force her into retirement so that he can take over. Yeah, that's...an interesting family.

There are a few comedic moments, but they don't last as long as they do in other Tyler Perry productions; you're really just watching a drama, a really good drama! The tension just keeps building and building between these characters. You either become really annoyed with or feel really sorry for Chris. He's too blind to see that his wife is cheating on him, even though everyone else can see it. You really hate Andrea and can feel just how despicable she is. The moment when she got slapped in the movie had the entire theater howling and cheering. (That's my siblings' favorite part of the movie - they're so violent.) I should also mention the friendship between Charlotte and Alice is really good. It feels so genuine! Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard are fantastic in these roles; it's really good seeing these great actresses share the screen and share their friendship with us.

To be honest, I don't really have any problems with this movie. The pacing is good, the characters are good, the tone is different for Tyler Perry, and it works here. It has funny moments, a lot of heavy moments, and you'll just love this movie. A lot of people seem to talk about race in this movie, simply because the film features a White family and a Black family. Yeah, folks need to calm down. This movie is not trying to evoke any ideas or themes of racism; it's just trying to tell a story about the simultaneous friendship and tension between the two families. How about we let it be that rather than proclaim Tyler Perry is evoking racism? Watch the film for what it is, and you should enjoy it. BOOYIKA!

Mediocre 'Lifetime'-type movie

[darryl-johnson · 2/10 · 28 September 2008]

Tyler needs to learn less is more. 'Prey' weighs in at nearly two hours and could have used a major tweaking in the editing room. I felt as if I was being held hostage to Mr. Perry's typical rah-rah script where all the evil doers get theirs and the good people triumph. There is never any suspense and you can normally see the so-called 'oh my' moments a mile away.

As a director and screen writer Tyler Perry needs to cut out the unnecessary crap he loads his movies with, tighten up the performances and PLEASE stay away from certain acts of violence that I found to be pandering to a certain segment of the audience.

In closing, save your money and turn on Lifetime- they do these movies a lot better and you get commercial breaks so you escape to the bathroom and fridge.

Much better than I expected, given the low rating here

[AdamCamp · 8/10 · 30 May 2010]

OK, I've read all the other reviews, to date, and I have to agree with those who had a positive experience. I'm a 62 year old gay white male, and I gave this movie an 8/10. I am not an unreserved fan of Tyler Perry, and think some of the Madea sub-plots are pretty ugly. That said, I have watched nearly everything he's done, enjoyed most, and feel that this one is the best I've seen. The plot(s) were not difficult to follow, or swallow, and the entire cast was perfect, not a bad actor among them. As expected, Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates were truly excellent in their roles. These gals have been doing this, and doing it well, for a long time, and are perfect together. If they aren't long time friends off-camera, they surely fooled me.

Tyler Perry gets soapy

[StevePulaski · 6/10 · 26 April 2013]

The Family That Preys is Tyler Perry's shameless attempt to make a cinematic soap-opera, and if you go by what soap operas are known for - heaping helpings of drama, thin characters, bland settings, and stiff dialog - the film is better than the average unsubstantial hour you could spend watching All My Children on CBS. And yet, there are several more substantial ways you could spend two hours rather than watching a Tyler Perry film. As always, the choice is yours.

The film feels like a full season's worth of soap opera material compressed into a one-hundred and thirteen minute film, featuring a various array of characters and their various arrays of problems. The characters come from one of two families, either the wealthy, whitebread socialites lead by the mom, Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) or the working-class black family ran by Alice Evans (Alfre Woodard). Cartwright and Evans have remained the best of friends, despite enormous financial differences, and develop a "Thelma and Louise"-like friendship when they hit the road in a bold turquoise convertible to explore the humble countryside.

Their children, all grown up and of all different ages, are the other characters we focus on. Alice's daughter is the bitchy, unfaithful Andrea (Sanaa Lathan), who is married to the ambitious, hardworking Chris Bennett (Rockmond Dunbar), who works a lowly construction worker job with his pal (Tyler Perry) working for William Cartwright (Cole Hauser). Chris has ambitions of starting his own construction company with his friend, until he realizes that first he must get his marital issues straightened out when he finds his wife has over $200,000 in a private banking account.

As you can infer, this leads to unconditional drama between the families, who must work it out on their own while their mothers are living it up in the south. This family drama will likely be exciting to audience who demand a film that briefly touches on a wide-range of emotions, rarely emphasizing on one certain moral or encompassing virtue. For those who want more characterization, investment, and positivity, this is a pretty meager offering. However, Perry doesn't pull punches when it comes to juggling multiple different characters. He shows his capability here when he creates several different people, all inhabiting the same world, and all dealing with unique problems. Even if the film is overwrought, it nonetheless is a competent production that steers clear of idiocy and wooden features like many other Perry movies do.

I'm also proud to see that the film sticks to its dramatic genre, regardless on how much dramatic material it infuses into its story. Coming off of the first Perry movie I watched (Diary of a Mad Black Woman roughly a year ago), I was offput by the way the film juggled an abundance of genres, ranging from melodrama to bizarre slapstick comedy to Christian-gospel to bleeding gum moral propaganda. With The Family That Preys, I respect the fact that Perry remains more attentive to the drama at hand. The last thing I wanted to see was the loudmouth, insufferable Madea show up and inflict her radical, obnoxious energy to a premise that is more about slow-moving tension. As I've seen, this is something she clearly doesn't do well with.

The Family That Preys is a serviceable picture, with unanimously fine acting (especially from its leads, Bates and Woodard), a more focused agenda, and a pleasant little picture. I grossly misrepresented this film which, judging by the cover, looked like a tired "walk in the shoes of another family' film dealing with race-relations and upper vs middle class, sociological drudgery. Perry has effectively made me second-guess just how aware and intelligent he is in terms of dealing with a specific subject. Just when you think he's doing one thing, he switches over to a slightly better thing.

Starring: Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Sanaa Lathan, Rockmond Dunbar, Taraji P. Henson, Cole Hauser, Tyler Perry, Robin Givens, and KaDee Strickland. Directed by: Tyler Perry.

predictable garbage

[i_am_important · 1/10 · 7 January 2009]

you know, i sometimes wonder if Tyler Perry doesn't have his elementary school aged nieces and nephews turning out these scripts for him. the script is boring and flat, with no real rises or falls. nothing interesting or exciting ever happens, unless of course you count all those laughable parts that made no sense at all. there are two other things that compliment the awful story: the misguided accents (the "white boy's" southern accent is almost never present, and the mother's likes to take frequent breaks) and the really dramatic overacting that makes you wonder if you didn't accidentally sit on the remote and switch over to some lame daytime soap opera.

if you enjoy absurdity and want to watch an incredibly stupid movie for laugh out loud purposes only, i suggest this. otherwise, don't waste your time.

Ebony and ivory

[ctomvelu1 · 4 September 2011]

I could tell right off this was a Tyler Perry movie, as it strongly resembles some of his past efforts. Perry plays a minor role in the movie as well. A black woman of modest means (Woodard) and a white woman with a lot of money (Bates) go on a road trip while various relatives of both play out their lives. Bates' son (Hauser) is having an affair with one of Woodard's daughters (Lathan). The daughter has ambitions of stealing him away from his wife and family. The haughty, delusional daughter is a stock character from other Perry movies, and unfortunately not particularly believable. Part soap opera, part road trip, PREYS is tailor-made for a certain audience, namely females. All others, beware. By the way, Bates and Woodward look terrific for AARP-aged dames.

it's a good matinée film

[mse42 · 5/10 · 13 September 2008]

i must start with saying i don't usually like Tyler perry movies and the first one i did was "why did i get married". this movie was okay. starts pretty slow, but does pick up, but not much. does do enough to keep you wanting to follow to the end. some stuff you just know what's going to happen. (didn't see the slap coming though. take that back, it's a TP movie, yes i did know it was coming.) i think most of the characters where underdeveloped. also didn't like the fact that everybody got what they deserved. for one why was Taraji's character so angry in most of her scenes. i can understand why she didn't like her sisters ways, but she was no angel. she didn't really want to help the homeless guy, she was kinda putting him down. also she really wasn't that understanding of her husbands feelings about not wanting his own business. i think she felt she was better than her sister because she helped their mom and deserved all that the sister had. also she charged the sister to keep her son. and who was she to question her sister when they didn't even get along.could go further, but enough about her. loved the Alfre and Kathy characters. throughout the entire movie. they make the movie happen. don't really care for Sanaa Lathan, but she rocked this role. all the rest of the cast were decent, except Rockmond character, what a wuss. i could have slapped him a time or two. if anybody remembers the movie "vice squad" from the '80's, the actor who plays the character William is the son of "ram rod". he fit the role. pimping ain't dead. loved Williams wife. the look she gave when they were hugging and she smelled the perfume:priceless. overall, the movie was decent, glad i payed matinée price. i know there's only so much that can be put into 2 hrs, but it worth it. hope Tyler keeps making movies, but i would like for him to give a little more substance.

wow. have this negative reviewers even seen or understood the movie!?

[beregic · 9/10 · 29 January 2009]

there are 2 things i need say here:

1-as a features(direction, acting, etc) this is a well done movie. i would even consider it for an award or two( not Oscar since this particular award is anything else BUT real life movies anymore). all the actors give outstanding performances except maybe Tyler Perry which one can see he is not a professional in this particular field. but even on this aspect he is at least putting the effort in. Taraji P. Henson, Cole Hauser, Alfre Woodard, Sanaa Lathan and Kathy Bates are all well casted. my main star here would be Taraji P. Henson , both as an actress as much as the character itself. this woman can be VERY expressive beside being still beautiful while not as young anymore. Robin Givens is engaging while Rockmond Dunbar is truly at his best! i give it an 8 rating at this chapter.

2- subject matter is NOT preying on a "certain audience" as some reviewers keep implying. it does cross the border of being BLACK or WHITE and that is its STENGHT. to sum this up, race does not matter anywhere as much as CLASS does. the present day stereotypes are all here, especially the corporate ones, and in a realistic form, that MANY of us could identify with on a general level( maybe not the wealthy ones that pay reviewers to "diss" this movie just because it obviously does hurt their PERCEPTIONS of living the life at the "top"). i give it a 10 rating for the plot and subject development even if i do not agree with ALL the points made here( but most of them).

the movie is not politically correct YET it does not play on viewer's emotion and expectations. it seems i am indeed a fan of Tyler Perry's production now that i think of it because i can not recall any of his movies that i do NOT like. also i am not part of the visible minority that most of the actors here are. doubt that this has any relevance as in WHY i like this particular feature(i really do not think it does).

i recommend this to any adult viewers and adolescents( no matter race) that is CONCERN with present day social values as they are being imposed from the TOP,( mass media, etc) and NOT from the old fashioned COMMON SENSE, that made this word spinning around, long before Hollywood came alive.

just give it a shot, the 3 star rating makes NO SENSE, really.

A Reasonable Soap-Opera with an Absurd Plot Point

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 11 February 2009]

The hard worker and religious Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard) raised her two daughters managing a simple bar of her own. Her snobbish and arrogant daughter Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) is graduated in Economic Science and works in a construction corporation while her sister Pam (Taraji Henson) stayed with Alice working in the bar. Andrea is married with the construction worker Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), who works in the same corporation of his wife and dreams on initiating his own business. However she is betraying him with their boss William Cartwright (Cole Hauser). William is the son of Alice's best friend, the wealthy Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates). While Alice travels with Charlotte in a road trip without destiny, the ambition and infidelity of William trigger a series of events that will affect relationships in both families.

"The Family That Preys" is a reasonable soap-opera and my first impression is that it is underrated in IMDb. However, the plot point in the meeting of the board of Charlotte's company is so absurd and incoherent that spoils the story and might be the reason for such bad rating. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Pretty good

[shanny892 · 4/10 · 4 July 2021]

Very slow story just to end where only one person is for the better lol.

A Drama that Delivers

[cliffordn-1 · 10/10 · 8 May 2010]

This movie has a perfect balance between humor and drama to keep you glued to your screen, delivered by a committed cast under appropriately paced direction. I find it hard to explain or understand why it has such a hash rating. I can only conclude that reviewers say the cover, perhaps the direct/ writer and decided that they have enough information to make a calling. Any unfortunate prejudgment that may end up denying quality drama lovers a pointer to what is nothing short of a great drama they may want to watch over and over again and share with friends and family. But please do not simply read the reviews or even take my word for it, see it for yourself and make up your mind.

A well above average film from Perry with a great cast to bring it up a notch or two

[callanvass · 7/10 · 19 November 2013]

This has always been one of my favorite Perry films. Yes. The melodramatics are present as always, but this movie has a quite a bit of heart. Tyler Perry is genuine in his approach, and he has something heavy to say as usual. I thought Tyler Perry did a really good job at exploring issues between two different families, but also make sure not to completely impede progress either. He delivers a great mix of humor & emotional drama. I do have a couple of carps. I felt the affair storyline between Andrea & William was a tad underdeveloped. I get that the point it was trying to serve was that both, Andrea & William are superficial people, but it didn't connect as powerfully as Tyler Perry intended it too. It came across as shallow and shoddily written. Both did excellent jobs on their respective characters (More on them in a bit) but the affair was awfully forgettable. I also thought the slow build towards Andrea's devious personality was pointless. It's obvious from the outset that she's heinous. Other than that, I don't really have all that much to complain about. The entire cast is solid, but it's the balance between the two best friends (Alfre Woodard & Kathy Bates) that really makes this film work.

Alfre Woodard could have been potentially annoying with her deep religious beliefs, but her pure heart and her likability managed to negate that potential hindrance. She was a great old gal, and one who wasn't afraid to try controversial things, even if it was against her beliefs. Kathy Bates is fantastic, but you should already know that by now. She is as classy as they come. I loved how her character would alternate from superior confidence to drastic vulnerability, due to her predicament. The journey she & Alfre go on is an absolute blast to watch with many funny moments that stood out. It was also a great contrast in personalities, Bates being the rich woman who has it all, and Alfre being the relatively poor black woman. Sanaa Lathan plays the evil woman to a T. She is honestly despicable, and did her job way too well to the point where I hated her. Kadee Strickland is very good, but her character was a bit of a weakling for me, but I did feel bad for her. Cole Hauser plays a conceited prick very well. You'll be dying to see him get his comeuppance. His relationship with his mother in this movie (Kathy Bates) was very realistic. People like Tyler Perry & Taraji P. Henson & others don't have as much to do, but they do solid in their respective parts. There are so many story lines that entwine with each other in this movie. I felt the movie did a really good job of making you think, and telling you that past suffering is not productive to your potential future success. It does a very thorough probe on dreams and greed. I felt Perry did excellent at both of them

Final Thoughts: Some Tyler Perry films are overwrought with melodrama. Tyler is quite capable of making thought provoking films that stick with you. He's done a few now, and this is one of them. Ignore the low rating. It's a good movie

7.3/10

Great film...which is rated way below here why???

[dougnoneyobusiness · 10/10 · 20 August 2009]

For some reason, I think that people, their sickening racial prejudices or whatever have influenced a lot of the votes on Tyler Perry's work.

I've worked in independent film and am a writer and honestly, just discovered his work and have watched four or five of his films this week and I really think some jealousy for a young talented black man is going on because none of these films have reached the level of the garbage that usually elicits these number through these pages.

Not all his stuff is meant to be taken seriously, but this work for example is and has a great ensemble cast and it worked beautifully.

I don't understand the vote, but this was well done, technically perfect, and tender and ruthless and quite perfect in this film maker's views.

Bravo Tyler...keep 'em coming.

One thing that made me avoid these is they always emblazoned everything Tyler, but he deserves some credit...and the likes of Bates and Woodward, these guys are academy award winning and level actresses. They don't just work with anybody.

He wrote it. He produced it. He directed it. He played a bit part. What do you want to give the man no credit as if he had nothing to do with the film?

His stage plays have done over $75 million in sales across America and didn't need some gimmick like Cats, and this is a self made man basically. He wasn't born with some silver spoon in his mouth and eventually, as he does more drama, he's going to get an Academy Award in his life time at this rate.

Another Tyler Perry Movie With The Same Type Of Plot

[leighabc123 · 6/10 · 15 September 2008]

This movie was seriously crazy. You can't say too many negative things about a movie with fly Taraji Henson, fly Sanaa Lathan, and fly Robin Givens. There were so many subplots in this movie that the average person could get lost. A cheating wife. A cheating husband. a gullible husband. And a senile business woman. I thought Alfre Woodard's character was really nice and down to earth. But near the end of the movie, I realized that she was selfish. Why would someone hold on to $1 million when your daughter and son and law are struggling to make ends meet? Why didn't William try to get his job back after his mother died? Why did it take so long for Rockmond's character to find out that his wife had another account with a lot of money?

I really, really like this movie

[cmtrn1 · 8/10 · 26 March 2017]

Without going into the characters and who does what I can say I really like this movie. I watch it frequently. I thoroughly enjoy Kathy and Alfre in this and other movies. I think the plots and the morale issues at hand are presented nicely. I particularly love the ending. I certainly didn't see it coming and was ecstatic. One needs to see the movie and think about the concepts presented before judging it.

Quintessential Perry

[TamPalm · 6/10 · 16 February 2010]

My rating is 6.5. Okay, this is not an Oscar film--but for what it is, for Tyler Perry's "genre" if you will--it's decent and at the very least watchable. It's tailored for Perry's audience in that the substance or breadth or depth of the plot or characters is (apparently) not his focus, but rather generating conversation amongst movie-goers seems to be his aim...which he does maybe better than anyone else. For all his flaws, Perry knows his audience.

That said, let me offer honest criticism. The movie is entertaining and keeps you watching, but it is not refined. It's Hershey's not Godiva if you catch my drift. The main dig I will give is that there is almost no character depth. The characters are one-dimensional and thus the movie's IQ is diminished. There is little thinking involved; it--like most of Perry's works--is emotion-based. I found the plot rather clever, so no dig there. But it's the characterization surrounding the plot that could have used more attention.

So in sum, this movie is watchable and enjoyable. It's not deep, it's not enriching, it's not life-changing. It's just quintessential Tyler Perry...and all that that entails.