Movie Review: A Fall From Grace(2020)

 

First movie review of the new decade! Whooo! It’s not going to be a good one lol.

Disclaimer: As you probably know from my Acrimony review, I generally do not like Tyler Perry films. I have nothing against the man. I think it’s wonderful that he has given work to black actors, a lot of them he gave them their start so I think that’s great. I also think it’s great that he wants to tell stories with black people at the forefront. My problem comes that most of the time, they are very pedestrian, stereotypical and follow the same formula. It usually always follows a black woman who was in a bad relationship with a man. Or has fallen on some hard times and she might be super mean or bitter.

I just don’t personally dig those movies, I’m sick of them. I like Diary of a Mad Black Woman and I think I Can Do Bad All By Myself is his best film. It’s been years since I’ve last seen either film so it might be different. So that’s it.

There will be spoilers for this movie because I’m sure most of y’all have watched it and if you haven’t, you really don’t care lol, I promise you you don’t. 

Summary: Disheartened since her ex-husband’s affair, Grace Waters feels restored by a new romance. But when secrets erode her short-lived joy, Grace’s vulnerable side turns violent.

Pros:

It’s Wild. Kind of Enjoyable. I didn’t turn it off nor did I go “okay, I can’t do it anymore,” like I did with Acrimony. It’s not something I’ll ever watch again but I did laugh in shock at some the moments between Grace and Shannon. “Ashtray b****!” is iconic, I’m sorry lol, I cracked up. I also enjoyed the sheer craziness of this plot, especially the “twist” at the end. I believe I sat on my bed like…

I mean this movie is crazy! It’s a ride… it’s a ride. That’s all I can say because it… it’s a ride lol.

Story Potential. There’s a lot of potential in this film and in this story. It’s nothing new, I’ve seen this story done better. But I do think there’s a ton of potential because the idea of a woman being seduced by a charismatic, “good looking” younger man is always fun, especially when it turns out he’s not as great as he should be. I hate the whole “I’m going to tell you this story and it’s gonna be a flashback” thing unless it’s done well but Tyler Perry did it with his Confessions of his Marriage Counselor (which I also hated). If he didn’t want the film to be linear, sure, that’s fine. But I think there are other ways around making it not linear that doesn’t include just having Grace recount her story to someone else and her narration. I was going to write out what I would have done instead but I decided, nope, I don’t care. But I will say this, instead of starting out the way it did, it should have started like: Ringing (like the ringing in the ears sound) and a close up of Grace’s face when she smacked Shannon with that bat in her house, so we’re like “Whhha just happened”. Then have a silent montage of her getting arrested after she called the police to confess. While she’s being walked out, or being processed or whatever, they should have had her flashbacks playing in flashes with her meeting him or whatever. That’s what I got to share and that’s it.

Acting… sometimes. I think Phylicia Rashad is always good and she was good in this film. I think she was the only one who was consistently good. Her character was just the best friend to the main character and she was fine until all the twists at the end and they got crazy. Cicely Tyson is always good as well, but she was wasted in this film. Mehcad Brooks has the best line in the movie though lol “Ashtray b****!” lol I’m still laughing at that.

Cons:

The Acting. For the most part, it’s so bad. I’m sure Crystal Fox is a wonderful woman and she has her moments of being okay, but when she’s being all yelly at Shannon, it just made me laugh. I didn’t believe her at all. Breesha Webb just looked scared the entire movie as Jasmine and her delivery was generally pretty bad. There’s a scene between her and Jordan where he tells her to eat her food and she says “I don’t want it! Who are you my father!? I DON’T WANT IT!” and it was so bad, I rewound the scene because I cackled so hard. Office Jordan was really bad (he was cute though lol), the two other DAs were horrible, especially the woman. Anytime she spoke, she sounded like she was talking to her homegirl and they were trying to sound “serious” or something. I don’t know, but it was really bad. It’s just so bad! It’s painful.

Stupid Characters/Decisions. First of all, everyone in this movie makes super stupid decisions! It’s annoying! I’m about to hit as many of them as I can remember. I will not watch this movie again just to clock them lol.

1. At the beginning Jordan the worst policeman ever, is trying to prevent a woman from jumping off a roof, and there is a helicopter. Do helicopters just pop up when someone is trying to commit suicide and shine super bright lights on them? I mean… wow.

2. Jasmine, the worse lawyer ever, tried to CHANGE the court proceedings while they were giving final statements. She kept trying to recall a witness after you already rested. GIRL! Is you or is you not a lawyer? I just could not.

3. Did Jordan not recognize this house? Unless the woman at the beginning was at a different house when she fell, he was at Sarah’s house… right? I need someone to tell me.

4. Sarah hits Jordan with a cast iron, it does nothing to him, but then she throws a bag of groceries at him like it was going to do something. Girl lol

5. Jordan, the worst policeman ever, handcuffs Sarah and then JUST LEAVES HER! I know she is a senior citizen but she can still run. Should have handcuffed her to the chair or something.

6. Did Jordan not teach Jasmine how to defend herself at all? How to get out of dangerous situations??? The fact that Shannon got the drop on her, sure, but she didn’t learn nothing from him? Then she was tied up, with rope, to a wooden chair. Girl, if you don’t rock yourself over, so that chair can break. Then KICK that door down, it opened outwards. UGH!!!

7. Was there no missing posters for them old ladies they had down there in the basement? Also, there was a random young-ish woman down there, so I was confused about the whole scam they pulled.

8. Also does no one do background checks on this woman before just letting her work for them? I mean at the end, Sarah somehow got out of those cuffs, got to another city and got a job at some old folks home. Do A BACKGROUND CHECK.

9. Grace you’ve been friends with Sarah for 6-8 years??? You’ve never been in her house? You’ve never explored!? Girl lol.

10. Jasmine took Cicely Tyson who is wandering around outside, saying she wanna go to her house, back inside the house… I would have called my husband who is a policeman to come back and let’s put this woman in the back of the cruiser. Girl is crazy.

11. Why did Jordan find out about Sarah’s criminal history at the end? No one looked her up before? She was a witness; don’t they check them before the proceedings? I mean… just stupid.

12. Shannon and Grace went to a Steak and Shake and had wine?? Where they do that at?

That’s all I got right now. lol

Way too many noticeable errors. This movie has to be the messiest movies to have ever movied. I mean, clearly there a ton that people have talked about it all and I’m going to mention it all over again because y’all, it’s a mess.

1. The wigs. They’re all horrible. First of all, Mehcad Brooks is a beautiful, beautiful man… WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM? That ugly wig! I feel like Jordan was wearing one too but it’s hard to say but his hair was literally the same as Shannon’s. Ugh. Grace’s wigs, maann, when she got in the shower, it didn’t look like real hair lol. Not to mention, her hair kept changing when she was in prison. I can’t lol.

2. The dishwasher wasn’t completed lol

3. Shannon got beat with a baseball bat, I mean, she beat his ass! Then threw him down the stairs. You trying to tell me that he got up and walked away or that Sarah helped him? And then all he had wrong with him was two black eyes (which looked so fake) and a bandage on his head? Man, he should have been in the hospital.

4. The fact that the extra during the diner scene, clearly had food on his plate, mimed eating it but never actually ate it? Or drinking from his cup of air? Also, he would continuously stare directly into the camera, or would watch Mehcad Brooks while he would deliver his lines and it was so bad and noticeable.

Too LONG! This movie is 120 minutes long and it feels so much longer. I looked up and saw I had one hour left and I almost died. It just feels too long. It needed to be 30 minutes shorter and the production time should have been longer lol. Don’t brag about filming your movie in 5-6 days when the errors are horrible. Netflix should be ashamed of themselves for putting this movie on their service when it was clearly not finished.

Overall, I had an entire rant section but I don’t remember what I was going to rant about since I started this post a week ago lol. But this movie is bad. Sure, it’s not the worst thing I’ve seen but it’s bad and I laughed in surprise at the sheer audacity. I think it has some enjoyable moments and it’s such a ride to watch the first time because you just can’t believe what’s happening. There is a story potential, the acting is okay sometimes and it’s wild. But none of the pros outweigh the cons! I already talked pretty in length about the cons so that’s all I shall say on that. I wash my hands of this film!!

Rating: 1.89 out 5 stars.

Did you see A Fall From Grace? If so, what are your thoughts? What is your favorite Tyler Perry film?