Leftover Night With Tyler Perry's 'Family'

All you really need to know about "Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys," which opened yesterday, are the first two words: Tyler Perry. Maybe two more: Alfre Woodard, but we'll get to that.

"Preys," is, yep, another produced-directed-written-by-and-starring vehicle for the workaholic actor and writer, and it delivers exactly the two-dimensional middle-class black family soap opera that you know is coming. You'll figure out what's going to happen to each character in the first 15 minutes.

But it's almost comforting, this sort of predictability, in which you pay to be nurtured, mildly entertained and not at all surprised. In the world of Perry ("Why Did I Get Married?" "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," television's "House of Payne"), good people are rewarded, bad people are punished, family actually matters and tragedy is tempered by faith and a gospel power ballad.

It's a world so much nicer than our own. Why quibble about cliches and stereotypes?

This time around, Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates), a construction-company magnate, is friends across class and color lines with Alice Pratt (Woodard), a hardworking cafe owner. They're both single moms and matriarchs at this point, natch, and each have their hands full with their now adult children.

Charlotte's only son, William (Cole Hauser), is an ungrateful little snot who expects to be promoted at the company because Mom owns the joint. He's also a husband with a wandering eye who offers a "position" to the ambitious (and hot!) Andrea Pratt (Sanaa Lathan), Alice's daughter. Problem is, Andrea's married to the good-hearted but not so bright Chris (Rockmond Dunbar), who works construction on the Big Man's site and dreams of setting up his own little company. Andrea's sister, Pam (Taraji P. Henson), is more comfortably married to Chris's buddy, Ben (Perry).

Charlotte finally gets Alice to go on a Thelma-and-Louise, girls-gone-AARP thing out West, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Mercy, the young'uns get all "Peyton Place" and everything! There are also some good laughs among the cliches, the best being, "Your appointment is going to be 15 minutes late," which is funnier than anything in "Burn After Reading."

But by far the best thing about the enterprise is Woodard. If she's not in this thing, I think it goes kaput. She's stuck with a stock character -- Momma, who works her knuckles to the bone, loves her kids and sings in the church choir. Aaiiee. But this always interesting actress imbues Alice with such heart, warmth and genuine affection that it is likely you will leave the theater remembering her smile, which is a lovely thing.

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (111 minutes, at area theaters) is rated PG-13 for thematic material, sexual references and brief violence.