'Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys' is a mess

To put it kindly, writer-director Tyler Perry needs a vacation. The man works too hard. He gives too much.

To be frank, Perry is burned out. His funny bone is sprained. His melodrama is drowning in soap-opera suds.

"Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys" may be even more overloaded with daytime-drama absurdities than "Meet the Browns," which popped off the Perry assembly line a mere six months ago. These plots belong in a graveyard; they're that old and tired.

Perry chose to broaden his demographic horizons with "Family" -- he has a few white people as main characters -- but that's the only thing remotely fresh about his latest work. It's as if he's making his own big-screen "Dallas," only it's set in Atlanta, concerns a construction empire and primarily features black characters.

There are two mini-dynasties in "The Family That Preys." One is headed by Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard), a churchgoing, big-hearted type who owns an Atlanta cafe and helps anyone in need. Alice has reared two daughters on her own, but the apples have rolled away from the tree.

Practical Pam (Taraji P. Henson) is married to construction worker Ben (Perry) and works at the restaurant, but she'd like to have more material blessings. Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) is a chilly business-school graduate who is introduced as she's about to marry Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), also a construction worker.

Andrea's wedding is at the mansion owned by Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates), a multi-divorced Atlanta mover and shaker who has been friends with Alice for years. Charlotte is nicer to Alice's family than she is to her son, William (Cole Hauser), and daughter-in-law, Jillian (KaDee Strickland). Charlotte doesn't think highly of William's prowess in the family construction company.

The film lurches toward its painfully predictable conclusion with a mix of adultery, acrimony, envy, betrayal, corporate intrigue and disease-of-the-week pandering. Everything in the movie has been done a million times before, and better.

Perry includes some church-related activities, but they feel like afterthoughts. One that comes during a road trip actually seems insulting to people of faith. Granted, it's meant partially as comic relief, but it falls out of the blue and isn't supported by anything that comes afterward.

The cast, which also includes Robin Givens and Sebastian Siegel, can't atone for Perry's misguided narrative. "The Family That Preys" is a sinful waste of talent.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, sexual references and brief violence.

Two stars (out of five)

(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)