It should come as a surprise to no one that I’m not a Tyler Perry fan. For a myriad of reasons: from the inconsistent quality control, the harmful stereotypes that proliferate his movies, and the rampant misogynoir in his work— his vision of Blackness disturbs me. And yet, my younger sisters love his movies. As do my other relatives. They feel seen by his work whereas mainstream filmmaking overlooks them. So, when I sat in my seat for the World Premiere of his latest film, “A Jazzman’s Blues,” I sat with a bundle of complicated feelings to watch a filmmaker I find neither appealing nor intriguing. 

Continue reading ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ Review: Tyler Perry Surprises With A Strong, Heartbreaking Romance [TIFF] at The Playlist.

When you think about Tyler Perry films, you wouldn’t be wrong to imagine a broad comedy where the filmmaker also stars as his iconic character Madea. Those are really the films that have cemented Perry’s status as one of the biggest names in Hollywood. But every so often, he mixes things up quite a bit and will work on a feature that ditches all the silliness in favor of something more emotional and dramatic, such as in the new film, “A Jazzman’s Blues.”

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“A Jazzman’s Blues” tells the story of star-crossed lovers, Bayou (Joshua Boone) and Leanne (Solea Pfeiffer) as they try to do whatever it takes to live a happy life together.

Continue reading ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ Trailer: Tyler Perry Returns With A Film About Star-Crossed Lovers In The Deep South at The Playlist.