It took 10 years to make this documentary on Tyler Perry. It covers everything from the abuse he and his mother suffered from his hateful father, Emmitt Sr., to how he turned his pain into success. Perry is now the Black billionaire owner of the largest movie studio in America. But it did not come without its trials and tribulations and there is a revelation late in the film that shocked us, as well as the filmmakers.
Writer and co-director Gelila Bekele with Armani Ortiz show what mother and son were able to overcome during his childhood in New Orleans. Perry credits his mother for her love and the values she taught him that he lives by today. The film shows him grateful being finally able to give her the comfortable life she deserved. But, also credits his father for working hard to provide for the family, and for passing down that work ethic, too.
In our interview with Bekele and Ortiz, they relayed amassing more than 500 terabytes (500 times more than a thousand gigabytes) of material following and interviewing Perry for more than a decade. But they did it without using a big crew or even putting a mic on Perry, to keep it fresh and real without being intrusive. It was mostly just Bekele and Ortiz staying out of his way.
When Perry started writing and performing, he struggled getting anyone to see his first play. He actually had to step in as understudy when a cast member didn’t show up in his “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” That was the first time he introduced himself as iconic character, Medea. His characterizations and Black culture plot lines were partially inspired by his mother’s regular get togethers with her female friends. As a little boy he would accompany her and just soak in their speech patterns and jokes. He also drew material from going to church with Maxine every Sunday. Perry was not only a participator, but a keen observer of people, their humor and actions. Still, he struggled. At one point he had to live out of his car, until his work featuring Medea brought him notoriety, almost exclusively with Black audiences.
Perry’s dream was to own his own content. He opened studios and kept outgrowing them. Bekele and Ortiz found out just how this young man from meager beginnings in New Orleans was so adept in business, as well as the artistic side of entertainment. He shoots more than 4000 pages of script a year in his studios, while owning everything from the script, to distribution and syndication. Perry is beating the legacy studios at their own game.
The directors include interviews showing how smart and driven he is, and how he broke the mold. They include former Lionsgate president, Michael Paseornek, Mellody Hobson, Spike Lee, Oprah, Gayle King and many more who testify to his genius. Plus, they show Perry’s studios as they kept expanding into the present massive 300 acre facility he built on a former Army base in Atlanta and its huge, star studded opening.
Though he’s mainly known as a comic performer, Bekele and Ortiz make sure you see the emotional pain and grit that sustained him through all of the obstacles before reaching his goal. They also show his great capacity for love of the son he shares with Bekele. She knows he is determined to give his son the love he never received and to make others happy.
With 10 years of material and archive footage even Perry was not aware of, the film amazingly runs just under 2 hours. It bounces around a bit in the middle, but builds to the glittery opening celebration of his studio dream-come-true. Bekele and Ortiz have laboriously created a powerful film about this multi-faceted industrious, creative, emotional man, who came from devastating beginnings, so proud to be called Maxine’s Baby.
Sony and Apple TV+ 1 hour 56 minutes PG-13
