Would you believe that this was based on a christian-themed play?
A 2005 movie directed Darren Grant and starring Tyler Perry.Helen (Kimberly Elise) and Charles McCarter (Steve Harris) had everything: fine home, beautiful clothes and success. In public, they were the perfect match. But behind the scenes was another matter. On what should have been the end of the happiest day of their lives, Charles evicts Helen, his wife of 18 years, from their house in the presence of his mistress. She moves in with her grandmother, Madea (Tyler Perry). Helen then goes from meek and mild to mad, starts a diary and a new life, and meets a new man, Orlando (Shemar Moore).
Tropes:
Acting for Two: Tyler Perry potrays Madea, Joe, and Brian, Madea's attorney nephew.
Baliff:... Criminal trespassing, Reckless endangerment, Criminal possession of a handgun, Assault with a deadly weapon, Suspended license, Expired registration, Reckless driving, and a broken taillight.
Drugs Are Bad: There is a plotline with Brian and his wife, Debrah, whose drug addiction has caused them some marital problems. Her drug habits and addictions had gotten so bad that Brian kicked her out of the house at the last straw. Don't worry, she got better.
Heel Face Turn: After being shot and paralyzed by his drug dealer client, cleaned out finacially by his mistress before leaving him, tortured by his scorned wife for the wrong he has done to her, Charles realizes the error of his ways and apologizes to Helen. Afterwards, he begins to rehabilitate, along with Helen's help, in a montage. At church, he even confesses his sins and turns to god.
But of course, that doesn't stop Helen from handing Charles signed divorce papers and leaving to find her own happy ending.
Hey, It's That Guy!!: Steve Harris, most notably from The Practice, Judge Mablean Ephriam, the former judge of Divorce Court, and famed black actress Cecily Tyson.
Jerk Witha Heart Of Gold: You'll hurt yourself trying to decide how much "gold" is in Madea's heart.
Laser-Guided Karma: The second half of the movie is pretty much every rotten thing Charles has done coming back to bite him in the ass. His dealings with criminal clients leads to him getting paralyzed, his mistress Brenda leaves him to die and takes both his money and their kids without telling him, and when he has the nerve to still treat Helen like trash even after she tries to help him, Helen finally decides to get even. She delivers a massive "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how being married to him was no picnic on her end but she at least tried to make it work, whereas he stopped caring. The stress he gave Helen caused her, among other things, two miscarriages.
Law of Inverse Fertility: Helen wanted children with Charles, but had two miscarriages. Meanwhile, he had two kids with his mistress.
The Mistress: She also had two kids for Charles and had no qualms about cleaning him out financially, letting him die in surgery rather then live as a cripple, and leaving him after he was shot and paralyzed. She also took the kids with her.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: The film does a short but blatant riff on Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston after Judge Mablean Ephriam rules Helen and Madea's case:
Judge Ephriam: Bailiff, call the next case.
Bailiff: The State of Georgia versus Bobby Brown.
Judge Ephriam: What is this? Repeat offender day?
Voice of Whitney Houston: Bobby! Bobby, I love you!
Judge Ephriam: Sit down, Miss Houston.
Rapid-Fire Typing: Done for comedic effect when Madea is tallying how much money Charles owes Helen.
Revenge- after Charles is shot by the gangster he was defending and is paralyzed, Helen gets revenge while taking care of him.
Of course, she then realized that it wasn't really that fulfilling...
Revised Ending - In the original play, Helen gets back together with Charles after his Heel Face Turn. Though at the same time, Charles was considerably less of a Jerkass in the play.
Tasty Revenge: Helen eats a salad in front of Charles, knowing he can't get food for himself, and when she is almost done throws the plate at him.
Team Mom / Team Dad: It's up to you to decide which one Madea counts as.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dealt out a number of times by Helen to a crippled Charles, while she's taking revenge on him.
Title Drop: Later in the movie when Helen writes an entry in her diary:
Helen:September 19th. Dear Diary, as I sit here thinking about picking up the pieces of what used to be my life, I realized something. Every room in this house holds a painful memory for me. Even though he's suffering, something somewhere in me wants him to suffer more. A few months and a divorce can take you through just as many emotions as 18 years in a marriage. And I'm starting to feel all of them at once. But the one that is clear is rage. Signed, a Mad Black Woman.
Too Dumb to Live: Charles apparently thought it was a good idea to continue treating Helen like trash after she attempted to help get his affairs in order right after A: He was paralyzed and B: She's the reason he's still alive.
Trailers Always Lie: As you can see from the picture, most of this movie's promotional material made it look like a slapstick comedy about Medea, when in reality she's a supporting character and her antics take up a fairly small part of the film.
Ungrateful Bitch: Brenda. After Charles is paralyzed she almost immediately opts to have them terminate his life support if need arise, but since Helen was still technically Charles' wife that decision was turned down. Brenda also fired the staff of Charles' house, cleaned out his bank account, took the kids, and abandoned him.
Vague Age: Madea. Helen was married for 18 years, making her most likely around 36. Helen's mother says she was 39 when she had her, which would make her around 75. Being conservative, Madea has to be somewhere upwards of 90, which means she gets around awfully well for her age.
It's possible Medea is Helen's paternal grandmother, and that Helen's father was somewhat younger than her mom. None of this is explained in the movie, however. Tyler Perry was just determined to get Cicely Tyson in his first feature film.
It's mentioned that Helen is the daughter of Madea's son, if not in this movie, then in the play I believe.
Woman Scorned: Helen, of course. She even states this herself:
Helen: I'm not bitter. I'm mad as hell.
Your Cheating Heart: Charles, who not only cheated with a mistress(and possible other women), but had children with said mistress.
It's even his motive for kicking Helen out "I can't keep doing this to my kids."
To be fair to Helen, she tried to get pregnant multiple times but has stated she had at least two miscarriages as a result of the stress Charles has caused her.
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