The Single Moms Club
The Single Moms Club is a 2014 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry.[3] The film stars Nia Long, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Zulay Henao, Cocoa Brown, Amy Smart, Terry Crews, and Perry. The film was released on March 14, 2014. The film received negative reviews from critics. It grossed $16.4 million against a production budget of $8 million.
The Single Moms Club | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Tyler Perry |
Produced by | Tyler Perry Ozzie Areu Matt Moore |
Written by | Tyler Perry |
Starring |
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Music by | Christopher Young |
Cinematography | Alexander Gruszynski |
Edited by | Maysie Hoy |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English Spanish |
Budget | $8 million[1] |
Box office | $16.4 million[2] |
Synopsis
After an incident at their children's school, single mothers from different walks of life bond and create a support group to discuss their problems and how they can make them better for them and their children.[4]
Cast
- Nia Long as May
- Amy Smart as Hillary
- Cocoa Brown as Lytia
- Terry Crews as Branson
- William Levy as Manny
- Wendi McLendon-Covey as Jan
- Tyler Perry as TK
- Eddie Cibrian as Santos
- Ryan Eggold as Peter
- Zulay Henao as Esperanza
Filming
The Single Moms Club began filming on November 26, 2012, in the city of Avondale Estates, Georgia.[4][5]
Reception
The Single Moms Club received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 19% based on reviews from 27 critics, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Single Moms' Club finds Tyler Perry avoiding some of the pitfalls of his earlier work, but continuing to rely on heavy-handed melodrama at the expense of sensible characters or absorbing storylines."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 31 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews" from critics.[7]
Entertainment Weekly writer Chris Nashawaty rated the film a "C+" grade. He felt the female cast played "clichés cribbed from a booklet of screenwriting Mad Libs," and found Perry's filmmaking to be blunt and unsubtle with its "canned sentimentality, lazy stereotypes, and easy uplift."[8] Jordan Hoffman of the New York Daily News gave credit to the Jan and Lytia pairing for having "a nice mix of comedy and genuine race/class tension", but criticized the other women for being "soap opera clichés" and the abandonment of the single-working-mother empowerment theme in favor of coincidental and ludicrous relationships, calling it "a film about catharsis and camaraderie, not logic."[9] Alonso Duralde of TheWrap also found criticism in the movie's lazily-written, hard-working female characters and low entertainment value, saying "while it's frequently unintentionally hilarious, it's also crushingly dull."[10]
Stephen Schaefer of the Boston Herald saw the women as "one-dimensional" with superficial lives and contrived problems that come to an unearned conclusion, calling the film "a lackluster empowerment fantasy that veers between dull and embarrassing."[11] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a "D+" grade, commending Perry for delivering an "uncharacteristically low-key and charismatic" performance and backhandedly complimented him for creating "a conventionally well-made film", but said that "Perry's movies are rarely dull or repetitive. The Single Moms Club, meandering and schlock-free, is an exception in this regard."[12] Sheila O'Malley from RogerEbert.com found the script's romantic relationships "slapdash" and clashing with the film's overall theme but commended Perry for handling the multiple storylines and the actresses for being "sympathetic and engaging", singling out Nia Long for being "emotionally accessible and funny" and bringing "a fresh and natural presence" to her role.[13]
Television adaptation
On January 9, 2014, it was announced that the Oprah Winfrey Network ordered a drama series based on film. The show premiered on September 9, 2014. Zulay Henao was the only actress from the film to reprise her role (Esperanza).[14]
References
- http://filmla.com/uploads/2014_FeatureFilm_study_v8_WEB_1432830776.pdf
- "Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- "Eddie Cibrian, Amy Smart and Terry Crews Join Tyler Perry's 'The Single Moms Club'". Retrieved November 27, 2012.
- "Tyler Perry begins filming 'Single Moms Club' in Georgia". Retrieved November 27, 2012.
- Ellis, Ralph (November 23, 2012). "Tyler Perry Filming in Avondale Estates Nov. 26-Dec. 5". Retrieved November 27, 2012.
- "The Single Moms Club (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- Nashawaty, Chris (March 28, 2014). "Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club Movie". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- Hoffman, Jordan (March 14, 2014). "Tyler Perry's 'The Single Moms Club': Movie review". New York Daily News. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- Duralde, Alonso (March 14, 2014). "'The Single Moms Club' Review: Moviegoers — and Moms Especially — Deserve Better". TheWrap. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- Schaefer, Stephen (March 14, 2014). "'Moms' a bad-time story". Boston Herald. Digital First Media. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (March 14, 2014). "Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club is atypically competent—and boring". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- O'Malley, Sheila (March 14, 2014). "The Single Moms Club (2014)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- "OWN Sets Cast For New Tyler Perry Drama Series 'If Loving You Is Wrong'". Deadline.com.com. June 5, 2014. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.