The film's ensemble cast consists of ten Black women - seven of whom correspond to Shange's color-coded "Ladies" - and explores their experiences as women of color.[4][5] Each character deals with a different personal conflict, such as love, abandonment, rape, infidelity, and abortion. It was the first film to be produced by 34th Street Films, an imprint of Tyler Perry Studios, and the first R-rated film directed by Perry.
Plot
The film follows the interconnected lives of nine Black women living in New York City. Each woman corresponds to one of the "Ladies" from Shange's original choreopoem, represented by a color.
A social worker, Kelly Watkins (Kerry Washington), the Lady in Blue, visits the brownstone of Crystal Wallace (Kimberly Elise), the Lady in Brown, to check on the welfare of her children. Kelly is forced to leave when Crystal’s partner, Beau Willie Brown (Michael Ealy), an alcoholic and troubled veteran, orders her out. Meanwhile, Juanita Sims (Loretta Devine), the Lady in Green, ends her long-running affair with her boyfriend, Frank (Richard Lawson). Across the hall, Alice Adrose (Whoopi Goldberg), the Lady in White, asks her daughter Tangie Adrose (Thandiwe Newton), the Lady in Orange, for money, but Tangie refuses. Gilda (Phylicia Rashad), the apartment manager, who functions as the film's equivalent to the Lady in Black character, informs Kelly about the danger in Crystal’s home and admits she was the one who contacted Social Services.
Alice later crosses paths with Yasmine (Anika Noni Rose), the Lady in Yellow, who is speaking enthusiastically to her dance students about a man she recently met named Bill. One of the students, Nyla Adrose (Tessa Thompson), the Lady in Purple, discusses her graduation night and later falls ill.
Juanita waits in the office of magazine editor Joanna "Jo" Bradmore (Janet Jackson), the Lady in Red, hoping to secure funding for her women’s health nonprofit, but Jo dismisses her. Kelly learns from her gynecologist that she is infertile due to an untreated sexually transmitted infection. Juanita rejects Frank’s attempt at reconciliation.
Crystal urges Beau Willie to stop drinking, but he insists marriage would allow them to collect welfare benefits. Jo leaves a voicemail asking her husband, Carl Bradmore (Omari Hardwick), to return her call.
Yasmine goes on a date with a man named Bill and shares her love of Latin dance. At home, Alice gives Nyla money under the assumption it is for college. Nyla asks Tangie for more, but Tangie confronts her about being pregnant. Nyla denies it, and Tangie mockingly directs her to a drunken, illegal abortion provider, Rose, the Lady in Pink (Macy Gray).
Jo waits for Carl, who was arrested earlier. Kelly tells her partner Donald (Hill Harper) that she contracted an STD from a man she and two friends dated simultaneously. Carl apologizes to Jo by buying opera tickets, though he dislikes opera, and shows clear interest in other men. Tangie attempts to pay Nyla’s supposed dance-class fees, but Yasmine reveals the class is free. Realizing Nyla has sought an abortion, Tangie panics. Yasmine invites Bill to dinner, but he becomes violent and rapes her.
At the opera, Jo sees Carl showing interest in another man. Crystal, on her way home with Jo, is attacked by Beau Willie, who accuses her of infidelity. During a drunken outburst or pyschological crisis, Beau Willie dangles their children out of a window and drops them to their deaths, as Gilda, Jo, Juanita, and other residents attempt to intervene.
At the hospital, Donald tells Yasmine that prosecuting Bill will be difficult. Alice arrives looking for Nyla, who is being interviewed by Renee (Kimberly Russell) and Kelly. When Kelly sees Crystal at the hospital, she breaks down.
Alice later confronts Tangie at her apartment, where both reveal traumatic experiences involving Alice’s father. Tangie discloses that he sexually abused her, leading Alice to admit he had also assaulted her and that she had been forced into sexual arrangements as a teenager. After Alice leaves, Gilda visits Tangie and recounts her own past, explaining she once lived similarly.
Frank returns and attempts to comfort Juanita, unaware of Crystal’s tragedy, but she does not reveal what has happened.
Carl tells Jo about Beau Willie’s crime. Alice and Nyla return home, where Alice attempts to force Nyla into prayer and an exorcism ritual. Nyla flees and seeks Yasmine, who is too traumatized to answer the door.
Kelly waits outside Crystal’s building and finds Crystal scrubbing her children’s blood from the sidewalk. Nyla arrives, and Kelly brings her inside to clean her up. Hearing Tangie bring another man home, Nyla confronts her. When the man suggests involving Nyla in a threesome, Tangie forces him to leave. The sisters begin to reconcile.
Yasmine tries to cope through dance. Kelly finds that Crystal has swallowed an entire bottle of pills, and Crystal is taken to the hospital. Donald tells Yasmine that Bill has been murdered after attempting to rape another woman. Yasmine visits the morgue, views Bill’s body, slaps him, and leaves.
Juanita informs Tangie, Nyla, and Kelly that Crystal’s stomach has been pumped. Kelly returns home but struggles to sleep as she reflects on her caseload and Crystal’s loss. Juanita finds Frank has left her again and later uses the experience to teach women at her community center about self-worth and unhealthy relationships.
Tangie invites Crystal to a gathering at the community center, though Crystal initially declines. Gilda encourages her to attend and offers comfort. Jo and Carl discuss their deteriorating marriage. Jo reveals Carl has infected her with HIV and asks for a divorce.
At the community center, the women gather to dance and celebrate. Juanita introduces Jo to the others. Alice briefly attends, tells Nyla she is proud of her, and leaves. Jo and Juanita discuss infidelity and HIV before joining the women on the rooftop. There, the women share affirmations, reflect on their experiences, and comfort Crystal, who delivers an emotional monologue as the film concludes with the women embracing her.
Cast
Janet Jackson as Joanna "Jo" Bradmore ("Lady in Red")
Thandiwe Newton as Tangie Adrose ("Lady in Orange") (credited as "Thandie Newton")
Originally using the play's full title, the film's title was shortened to For Colored Girls in September 2010.[9] In an October 2010 press conference with the cast, Perry credited his full body of work for being able to make the film, stating, "It took everything—Madea, House of Payne and all of that—for me to be able to do For Colored Girls. Had none of that happened I wouldn't have been able to say, 'Listen, this is what I want to do next,' so I’m very proud of it all."[10]
When asked if she held reservations about Perry's adaptation of her work, Shange responded: "I had a lot of qualms. I worried about his characterizations of women as plastic."[11] In reference to the film post-production, she stated, "I think he did a very fine job, although I'm not sure I would call it a finished film."[11]
For Colored Girls: Music From and Inspired by the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on November 2, 2010. It features music from the cast, as well as Leona Lewis and Nina Simone.
Release
The film was originally planned for a 2010 release, but was later delayed until January 14, 2011.[12] However, the studio chose to move the release date forward to November 5, 2010; Tyler Perry commented it was "a serious film that really lends itself to the Fall period."[13] Grossing $20.1 million in its opening weekend, For Colored Girls debuted at the box office at #3, behind Megamind ($47.7 million) and Due Date ($33.5 million).[14]
Critical reception
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On Metacritic the film received a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average" reviews.[15] On Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of 106 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.20/10. The site's consensus is that "Tyler Perry has assembled a fine cast for this adaptation of the 1975 play, and his heart is obviously in the right place, but his fondness for melodrama cheapens a meaningful story".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a grade "A" on a scale from A+ to F.[17]
Early reviews from a private screening by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter were negative. Peter DeBruge of Variety stated that "[i]n adapting Ntozake Shange's Tony-nominated play—a cycle of poetic monologues about abuse, abortion and other issues facing modern black women, rather than a traditional narrative—the do-it-all auteur demonstrates an ambition beyond any of his previous work. And yet the result falls squarely in familiar territory, better acted and better lit, perhaps, but more inauthentically melodramatic than ever." Despite an overall negative view of the film's plot and direction, DeBruge gives praise to the acting of its principal cast.[18]
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the difficulty in translating Shange's poetic play to film. He commented: "No, it never was going to be easy, but someone needed to put creative sweat into this one, to reach for cinematic solutions to the theatrical challenge. All Perry does is force conventional plots and characters—utter cliches without lives or souls—into the fabric of Shange's literary work. The hackneyed melodramas get him from one poem to the next but run roughshod over the collective sense of who these women are."[19] Honeycutt acknowledged the talents of the film's actresses, highlighting performances by Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and Kimberly Elise.[19]
Critic Marshall Fine gave a negative review in The Huffington Post. He asserts Perry's screenplay is inadequate for its source material, stating that each character "gets the opportunity to suddenly burst into Shange's poetic arias. But the connective tissue that links the various stories... amounts to a college course in black social pathology—or perhaps just human pathology."[20] Acknowledging the acting talent of the ensemble cast, he states: "Don't get me wrong. The women of this film all shine, hitting strong emotional notes that ring true even when Perry's adaptation feels false... So let's just say that For Colored Girls is a barely competent film (which is a big step up for Perry), illuminated by luminous performances."[20]
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly comments: "The female cast is great, with especially fierce performances from Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, and Anika Noni Rose. But stuck in a flailing production that might just as well invite Perry's signature drag creation Madea to the block party, the actors' earnest work isn't enuf."[21]
Claudia Puig of USA Today called the film a "strained soap opera" which "has wrung the beauty and truth out of the original in almost every way possible."[22] Mary Pols of Time magazine states that despite the caliber of the cast, "Elise's performance is the only restrained one in the film and her Crystal is For Colored Girls' most compelling character." She concludes that "For Colored Girls feels like the cinematic equivalent to putting a garish reproduction of the Sistine Chapel on the ceiling of your McMansion and calling it art."[23]
In contrast, a review by Shadow and Act was favorable, calling For Colored Girls "the best thing Perry has done to date." Perry is complimented on his cinematography, and use of "subtlety and nuance", although his screenwriting is still considered to be the weakest aspect of the film. Like previous reviews, praise is given to the acting quality of the cast, especially regarding performances given by Thandiwe Newton, Janet Jackson, and Kimberly Elise.[24]The Huffington Post journalist Jenee Darden gave a mixed review. She comments that Perry's modern plot conflicts with the narrative of Shange's poetry which was written during the 1970s, explaining: "The film is set in the present and black people don't use the word 'colored' anymore. Watching a character type on a laptop then hearing someone describe themselves as 'colored' a few scenes later doesn't feel realistic."[25]
She commends the acting of the cast, stating "Kimberly Elise stirs you as always. Loretta Devine is funny and vivid. Thandie Newton delivers as a troubled, selfish sex addict. She and Whoopi were matched perfectly as a mother and daughter with serious tensions. Singer Macy Gray's eerie portrayal of a back-alley abortionist will make you rethink ever having unsafe sex."[25]Roger Ebert comments that "Shange's award-winning play is justly respected, but I'm not sure it’s filmmable, and I’m pretty sure it wasn't a wise choice for Perry... That’s not to say 'For Colored Girls' doesn't have its virtues. Seeing these actresses together is a poignant reminder of their gifts, and of the absence of interesting roles for actresses in general and African-American ones in particular."[26]
Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave a positive review, stating that "[w]ith a surgical precision, the writer-director cut [Shange's poetry] apart and reassembled it, using various pieces to create characters and storylines, keeping much of the poetry, writing the connective tissue himself so that it finds a new life, a somewhat different life on screen," and said it is his most "mature" film to-date. Commenting on the acting of the ensemble cast, she states: "Newton's Tangie swings too wildly; Goldberg's Alice, clad in white and rage, never finds traction; and Rashad, as the apartment manager Gilda, the central link between many of the characters, never quite connects, so it often feels as if she's walked onto the wrong stage" but adds that "[w]hatever stumbles there may be, they are offset by moments when 'For Colored Girls' soars," ultimately describing the film as "unforgettable."[27]
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called For Colored Girls "a serious achievement."[28] He compliments Perry's work, stating "this new film shows a mastery of tone, a capacity to elicit strong performances and also to bring out different colors within those performances so that, when it all comes together, it's not the same note sounding over and over. This is smart, lovely work."[28] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film "a thunderous storm of a movie." Dargis states that "working with fine performers like Ms. Elise, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad and Kerry Washington, he sings the song the way he likes it—with force, feeling and tremendous sincerity."[29]
Matt Zoller Seitz of Salon.com calls For Colored Girls Perry's "most problematic work. It's also his most ambitious."[30] He adds that "Perry never solves the stage-to-screen translation problem. But the path he has chosen is as intriguing as it is irksome, and it works better than you might expect."[30] In terms of acting, he praises Jackson's performance, stating: "[s]he outdoes herself here... It's not just Jackson's short haircut and traumatized eyes that might remind viewers of Jane Wyman or Joan Crawford; Perry gets at the mix of masculine hyper-competitiveness and feminine vulnerability that has always defined Jackson, and links it to the wily, lonely coldness often captured in Wyman and Crawford performances, a directorial gambit of tremendous perceptiveness."[30] In addition, he says Perry "is just as sharp directing Jackson's costars—especially Elise, Rashad and Devine."[30]
Accolades
For Colored Girls has received accolades primarily from African American film and critic associations, in multiple categories including acting, writing, directing and overall production. Kimberly Elise has received the most acting nomination among the cast, followed by Anika Noni Rose and Phylicia Rashad.
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