Shot in only eight days and loaded with pulpy narrative turns, Tyler Perry’s new feature Acrimony (which is currently playing in general release) feels like a 1940s B thriller blown up to contemporary A movie proportions. I enjoyed the film, albeit with significant reservations. Acrimony is devoid of subtlety; the clodhopper dialogue tells viewers what to think at every turn, just as the barebones imagery instructs viewers exactly where to look. Yet the movie is never boring, and it succeeds as a vehicle for lead actress Taraji P. Henson. Henson’s commanding performance brings nuance to a character who would otherwise seem one-note; the movie is a better showcase for her talent than the rote action flick Proud Mary, which came out earlier this year.
Robert apologizes for the affair after Melinda gets out of the hospital and even convinces her to marry him. Rather than support her, however, he devotes all his time to his invention, forcing Melinda to work two jobs to keep them afloat. This goes on for years, and Perry shows the passage of the time with a single cut where the younger actors who played Robert and Melinda as college students are replaced by Henson and Lyriq Bent. It’s an effective way of conveying how time can get the better of people, rendering them unrecognizable to themselves. (Pedro Almodovar achieved a similar effect in his recent film Julieta.) Where Melinda has grown more resentful of her role as breadwinner, Robert remains more or less the same, tinkering away at his battery and making promises of becoming rich. His dreams eventually come true, but only after he bankrupts Melinda and provokes her to file for divorce.
