My opinion on Tyler Perry has always been this:
- I do think he's very popular within the African American community (box office for movies he's written, directed, and starred in have proven this). I do think though that Perry gets mixed reviews from Black Hollywood. I say mixed because while a lot of C and D-List Black Actors want to work with him (and vice versa), a majority of the A and B List Black Actors have no desire whatsoever to work with him. And we already know how Spike Lee feels about him.
Of course a lot of that has to do with the level that Black Actor is in Hollywood. The A and B list are the ones we see in movies a lot, the ones who are the big names or names that are familiar to a majority of the movie going audience. They don't need Tyler Perry and I don't know what any of their opinions are on any of his films (although I doubt it's positive). The C and D List are the ones we see in movies a lot, but the general public doesn't know their names or ones that we have not seen in a while who may be in need of a comeback. Tyler Perry gets their names out there. Having said that though, I still believe that Eddie Murphy needs to work with Tyler Perry for a few films. Perry could make him relevant again.
I don't know how well this film will do, because it's not something that Tyler wrote or directed himself. He's just starring in it. I am stunned at Matthew Fox's transformation though.