Posted on March 21 - - Rumor has it that any person of color who has the audacity to pan a Tyler Perry movie will be labeled a sell-out. Well, put me up on the block because I wasn’t really that thrilled to Meet the Browns.

Here’s the thing about Perry’s fifth film. It’s way too reminiscent of his first four. Maybe it’s time he delegated so he wouldn't have to do it all—write, direct, produce and be one of the stars, too. There were scenes in Meet the Browns, an adaptation of one of Perry’s stage plays, that appeared to be lifted right out of Diary of a Mad Black Woman. There’s just so many times you can hear that “you women say you want a good man” speech by a pretty boy actor before you go, “Hey wait a minute, didn’t Shemar Moore say the same thing to Kimberly Elise in that other flick?”

To his credit, Perry always manages to cast some great actors even if he doesn’t give them much to work with. His latest film, which hits theaters on Friday, is no exception. You can’t go wrong with Angela Bassett as your leading lady, Margaret Avery and Irma P. Hall as your supporting players or with Jenifer Lewis providing the comic relief. And Bassett’s kids, played by Lance Gross, Chloe Bailey and Mariana Tolbert, are real cute.

Rick Fox, makes his debut as a leading man playing Bassett’s love interest. Fox, a former NBA small forward is adequate but the chemistry between him and Bassett seems very forced. She plays Brenda, a struggling single mom from Chicago with three kids, one of whom (Gross) wants to be the next big thing in pro hoops.

When Brenda finds out that her long lost daddy has died, she and the kids head to rural Georgia to meet their new relatives. Harry (Fox) is a corn-fed high school basketball coach and friend of the family who got bounced out of the pros because of his gambling addiction.  He takes a liking to Michael (Gross) and Michael’s mama, who of course, wants nothing to do with him because she don’t know a good men when she sees one. Like all Perry films, Meet the Browns has that predictable happy ending that occurs just after the female character realizes the error of her ways—about 10 minutes before the end of the movie.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Madea, Perry’s signature character, reappears for no apparent reason other than to satisfy Perry’s fans. The inclusion is both pointless and needlessly distracting.

I’m all for this brother making money and challenging the way Hollywood goes about its business, but I’d rather see a quality film that didn’t look as though it took 10 minutes to write.