Call it ‘Tyler Perry’s More of the Same’

The films (and videos and plays and book and television show) created by Tyler Perry have always been first and foremost about brand formation and management more so than any conventional notion of cultivating an artistic voice.

People now know what they are going to get when they purchase a Tyler Perry product -- contemporary, faith-based morality tales tailored to comfort and confirm the values of an African American audience -- and as the director, producer and writer of “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns,” he dutifully serves up more of the same.

Even his brief appearance onscreen as his most popular character, Madea, the sassy, tough-talking grandma, feels like a calculated addition rather than an organic necessity.

An adaptation of one of his stage plays, “Meet the Browns” gives off the distinct feeling that Perry is treading water or at the very least is content to satisfy his audience with the minimum. Brenda, a single mother of three living in a Chicago housing project, finds out that the father she never knew has passed away, and is summoned to small-town Georgia for his burial. A series of remarkably hoary city-versus-country conflicts ensue, with predictable results.

Angela Bassett, as Brenda, turns in the most forceful and self-possessed performance seen in a Perry film. The sense of inner resolve that has always been Bassett’s stock in trade comes through here loud and clear. Perry the filmmaker would do well to challenge himself to create roles that live up to the talents of actors like Bassett, as she brings an emotional reality and deep resonance to her performance that plainly elevates the material.

As long as Perry continues to be more concerned with flaunting his success and popularity as a sign of his abilities rather than developing his muse and talent, he will likely continue to make money hand over fist but also leave behind disposable artifacts such as “Meet the Browns,” full of empty platitudes and self-serving righteousness.

It’s a tough decision, but for someone who claims deeper moral values as the cornerstone of his work, the choice, or even just the act of grappling with it, should be obvious.

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“Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns.” MPAA rating: PG-13 for drug content, language including sexual references, thematic elements and brief violence. Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes. In wide release.