For Colored Girls

2010 • 133 minutes
4.4
571 reviews
32%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

In 1974, Ntozake Shange's choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" made its stage debut, combining poetry, dance and music, and most significantly, placing the black female experience center stage. In lyrical, honest, angry, funny and tender language, Shange's "colored girls" evoked the feelings woven into the fabric of black female life in America. Within two years, the play became a Broadway sensation, won an Obie and Tony Award, and would eventually be produced in regional theaters throughout the country. Now, thirty six years later, filmmaker Tyler Perry adapts this landmark work for the big screen, integrating the vivid language of Shange's poems into a contemporary narrative that explores what it means to be a woman of color - and a woman of any color - in this world. FOR COLORED GIRLS weaves together the stories of nine different women - Joanna, Tangie, Crystal, Gilda, Kelly, Juanita, Yasmine, Nyla and Alice - as they move into and out of one another's existences; some are well known to one another, others are as yet strangers. Crises, heartbreaks and crimes will ultimately bring these nine women fully into the same orbit where they will find commonality and understanding. Each will speak her truth as never before. And each will know that she is complete as a human being, glorious and divine in all her colors.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

4.4
571 reviews
Bonnie Johnson
November 26, 2016
Most racist movie in the world and all the girls like it but im not a girl and gay people like it too. But im not a gay okay and im not a gay i don't like this movie and all tell you why after this. Chapter 1 why i don't like it. Okay now this movie has no men in it and thats sexiest and i don't care that thaers girls in it thats fine but i see that girls need a club because they need time with girls so thats it for now by have a great time.
3 people found this review helpful
Patricia M
February 8, 2018
Movies based on books are damned by comparison. Bringing Ntozake Shange's 1974 choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" to film was going to be challenging enough but considering PBS had previously filmed a version of the stage play it would be extremely difficult to be original. Being an advid reader and having read the choreopoem as well as seen the PBS production of the stageplay I was skeptical of anyone, even Perry, of being able to pull off this movie. Plus since I can still visualize some of the traumatic moments from the PBS production of the play over 3 decades later production I didn't know if I wanted the film to be good. But in spite of my reservations I went and saw the movie its first weekend out. The acting was of course excellent. But, similar to other movies that tell stories of women of color, the stories protrayed in the movie were very bleak, harsh and without joy. And yes that made these stories as sadly gut gripping as I remembered from my youth. But the fact that these stories portrayed such harsh images of Black men didn't make them less true. For one sad sad thing that I have learned in the decades between my youth and my mature adulthood is that all of these stories are true examples of experiences of women of color in relationships. The fact that I might not have experienced any of the stories doesn't make them less true. This isn't a movie to watch over and over but I will purchase a digital version to add to my movie collection for the grandkids to watch when they are older.
19 people found this review helpful
anwar hall
April 3, 2013
Take every despicable act that can happen to a woman and place it in a 90 minute film and this is what you get. This makes PRECIOUS look like a after school special. Also why is this categorized under Action & Adventure?
16 people found this review helpful