I Can Do Bad All By Myself

PG-13 for mature thematic material involving a sexual assault on a minor, violence, drug references and smoking

reviewed by Christopher Lyon

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The Story

April (Taraji P. Henson) is a lounge singer who can barely take care of herself. She drinks too much and lives in a crumbling house with a man who is married to another woman. She’s not the most obvious choice to raise her late sister’s three kids, but she’s the only option they have left—especially after they get caught trying to rob the house of Madea and her brother Joe (both played for comic relief by director Tyler Perry).

April’s life gets more complicated when her pastor asks her to take in another boarder. Sandino (Adam Rodriguez) is a good man, and he’s willing to fix up her place in exchange for a bunk in her basement. April reluctantly agrees, a decision that slowly leads her back to church and to a new awareness of how she can meet the needs of someone besides herself.

But she still has to figure out what to do with her abusive boyfriend and the kids.

Content Issues

Mature themes including child and sexual abuse are the biggest reason for the PG-13 rating, including the near rape of a teenage girl and a tense stand-off involving electrocution. Profane language is kept to a minimum (though God

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