Movies & More reviewer John Gillispie thinks that "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself," rated PG-13 and starring Tyler Perry, Taraji P. Henson and Adam Rodriguez, is a powerful film with several standout performances.

Most people are familiar by now with Tyler Perry's Madea character. Madea is outrageous and hilarious. Madea provides comic relief to many of Perry's movies while dramatic things happen to much of the rest of the cast.

"Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself" is an especially powerful film. Taraji P. Henson carries the story as April, a nightclub singer who doesn't want to raise the three children of her deceased sister. The problem is that there probably isn't anyone else who is going to care for the kids the way that they need it.

The story begins when the three kids break into Madea's home when their grandmother goes missing. Madea (Tyler Perry) lays down the law in her comic way and then takes the children to April.

At 16, Jennifer (Hope Olaide Wilson) is the oldest of the children. She is trying to watch out for her younger brothers Manny (Kwesi Boakye) and Byron (Freddy Siglar). One brother has asthma and diabetes and the other brother doesn't speak.

Wilson gives an amazing performance as a young woman who wants to help her younger brothers, but doesn't know if she will have the resources to be able to in the long run. As Jennifer, Wilson goes from sullen to frightened to hopeful and never hits a false note.

April is in a relationship with a married man named Randy (Brian White) when the neighborhood church sends a handyman in need of room and board her way. Adam Rodriguez plays Sandino, who proceeds to try to mend not only April's home but also her heart.

So, we have a love story on more than one level. Can April learn to love herself in order to get her life back on track and be there for her niece and nephews? Will Sandino win April's love away from Randy? Will the children be able to stay together or be separated in foster care?

Throw in some musical performances by Gladys Knight as Wilma, a member of the neighborhood church, and Mary J. Blige as Tanya, a bartender at April's club, and you have a thoroughly entertaining film.

Many of the scenes in this film brought tears to my eyes and, of course, Madea made me laugh out loud. Madea disappears toward the middle of the film, but this time we are so invested in the other characters that we don't spend all of our time waiting for her to reappear. You do get a little bit more of Madea over the closing credits.

John Gillispie is the public relations director for the Huntington Museum of Art. Contact the writer at jgillisp@hmoa.org.