Acrimony (film)

Acrimony is a 2018 American psychological thriller film produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. The film stars Taraji P. Henson, Lyriq Bent and Crystle Stewart, and follows a loyal wife who decides to take revenge on her ex-husband. Principal photography began in October 2016 in Pittsburgh. Acrimony was released in the United States by Lionsgate on March 30, 2018.[5][6] It received generally negative reviews, and has grossed $46 million worldwide.

Acrimony
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTyler Perry
Produced by
  • Mark E. Swinton
  • Will Areu
  • Ozzie Areu
  • Tyler Perry
Written byTyler Perry
Starring
Music byChristopher Lennertz
CinematographyRichard J. Vialet
Edited byLarry Sexton
Production
company
Distributed byLionsgate[1]
Release date
  • March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Running time
120 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[3]
Box office$46.4 million[4]

Plot

Melinda Moore is a steadfast, hardworking wife who supports her husband, Robert Gayle, an engineer trying to sell an innovative battery design. A running total/dwindling balance of the proceeds Melinda receives after her mother's death is portrayed as the couple gets in over their heads in debt, which fractures their marriage over time. The film is divided into categories based in the emotional spectrum that Melinda experiences, as follows:

Acrimony

Melinda bumps into engineering student Robert during college, goes into a rage and assaults him physically and verbally, revealing her normal tendencies. Later that day he appears at her dorm room to return some papers that got mixed up when they bumped into each other earlier in the day. He offers to help her with a report due for submission and they become close. On the day of her mother's funeral, Robert comforts Melinda, leading to them having sex – her first time. They start dating. But one day, after not hearing from him in two days, Melinda decides to call him. When he picks up, she asked why she hasn't heard from him, and he says he is busy doing something and then hangs up. So Melinda goes over to his RV to see what he is doing. After an hour of waiting, she decides to leave but she suddenly hears moaning and see a woman's hand on the RV window. She realized that Robert was cheating on her with a woman named Diana Wells. She goes into another rage and rams the RV with her car with both the two lovers inside, seriously injuring herself in the process. Melinda gets out of the car and destroys Robert's car. Then, Robert makes it out safe and Melinda confronts him about cheating on her and passes out after her accident and is rushed to the hospital for an emergency full hysterectomy, rendering her unable to bear children. Melinda and Robert reconcile and marry, despite the objections of her sisters, June and Brenda. Brenda warns Melinda not to tell Robert about the amount of money their mother left her.

Years later, Melinda supports them both, as Robert is unable to find work because he was a felon and spent two years in prison for robbing a grocery store. June and Brenda are leery of Robert's intentions with Melinda's inheritance. Robert talks Melinda into mortgaging their house so he can build a prototype of a revolutionary battery he has been designing since prison, which he hopes to sell to Prescott, a venture capitalist. Diana, now working as an assistant to Prescott, arranges for Robert to have a meeting with him. After finding Diana's wallet in Robert's truck, June and Brenda tell Melinda that Robert is cheating on her. Melinda's family runs a catering business and they offer Robert a job. They warn him that if they miss out on delivering to a client they will lose their truck contract. As Robert is in route to his delivery, he gets a call from Diana saying Prescott wants to reconsider his deal. This causes Robert to abandon his delivery job during mid-route. Prescott offers Robert $800,000 for the design, but Robert wants to license the technology to them instead and declines the offer. Melinda, furious at both Robert's declining of Prescott's offer and his interaction with Diana, files for divorce and moves in with Brenda. Robert moves into a homeless shelter, but Diana finds out and insists that he live with her.

Sunder

Prescott reconsiders and offers Robert a multimillion-dollar deal while allowing him to keep the intellectual property of the battery technology proprietary, which he accepts. Robert visits Melinda at work, although she refuses to reconcile. Robert accepts her decision but, as an apology to her and much to Melinda's surprise, gives her $10 million and buys back her home.

Bewail

After showing her sisters the money Robert has given her and berating them for their influence, Melinda visits Robert in his new penthouse apartment and attempts to seduce him and rekindle their relationship, but Diana comes in and introduces herself as Robert's fiancé.

Deranged

Angry and hurt, Melinda becomes obsessed with the couple and swears to destroy them. Melinda sues Robert and Diana, claiming that the deal with Prescott happened before their divorce, but the case is dismissed. Robert and Diana file a countersuit against Melinda and obtain restraining orders. Melinda retaliates by visiting the bridal shop and destroying Diana's wedding gown with hydrochloric acid, although she is caught and sentenced to court-mandated counseling, where she tells her therapist that Robert took advantage of her. Her therapist suggests that she may have borderline personality disorder. Melinda's mental state further deteriorates after learning Diana is pregnant. On Robert's wedding day, her family and friends are forced to prevent Melinda from leaving her house and ruining the wedding.

Inexorable

Robert and Diana leave on their honeymoon cruise. Melinda sneaks onto the boat, shoots Robert, and makes the crew of the boat jump overboard. Melinda attempts to shoot Diana but Robert tells Diana to take the dinghy and rescue the crew before a fight emerges that causes Robert to overpower Melinda and throw her in the water. Melinda returns and attempts to kill Robert with an axe but is trapped by the anchor that pulls her off and into the ocean, thus she drowns. Diana returns with the crew and comforts a bleeding Robert.

Cast

Production

Filming took place around Pittsburgh and Atlanta in fall 2016.[7][8] Tika Sumpter originally was cast as Diana Wells, but later left and Crystle Stewart took the role.[9]

Release

The film was released in the United States on March 30, 2018.[10] It was originally titled She's Living My Life.[11]

Box office

Acrimony has grossed $43.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $2.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $46.3 million.[4]

In the United States and Canada, Acrimony was released alongside God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness and Ready Player One, and was projected to gross $10–15 million from 2,006 theaters in its opening weekend.[12] It made $7.6 million on its first day, including $1 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $17.2 million, finishing second, behind Ready Player One, and besting both projections and the $10 million opening of Henson's Proud Mary two months earlier.[13] It fell 51.2% in its second weekend to $8.4 million, finishing fifth.[14][15]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 17%, based on 36 reviews, and an average rating of 3.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Tyler Perry's Acrimony might be of interest to hardcore Tyler Perry fans, but all other viewers are advised to make time for another Fatal Attraction screening instead."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[13]

Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com gave the film a negative review, writing that "Taraji P. Henson deserves better."[18]

See also

References
  1. "Tyler Perry's Acrimony". Lionsgate. Lions Gate Entertainment. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  2. "Tyler Perry's Acrimony". AMC Theatres. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  3. Fuster, Jeremy (March 27, 2018). "Can 'Ready Player One' Save Box Office From Post-'Black Panther' Slump?". TheWrap. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  4. "Tyler Perry's Acrimony (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  5. Gallagher, Brian (October 19, 2017). "Tyler Perry's Acrimony Trailer Sends Taraji P. Henson Into a Rampage". MovieWeb. Watchr Media. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  6. "Upcoming Movies in Theaters and on DVD". Box Office Mojo. October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  7. Tribune-Review (October 23, 2017). "Trailer debuts for Pittsburgh-shot Tyler Perry movie 'Acrimony'". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Trib Total Media. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  8. Project Casting (October 3, 2016). "Tyler Perry's New Movie 'Acrimony' Open Casting Call". Project Casting. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  9. http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/movies/2016/10/04/Tyler-Perry-filming-in-the-Pittsburgh-area/stories/201610040085
  10. "Tyler Perry's Acrimony". Acrimony official website. Lions Gate Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  11. "Two Tyler Perry Movies Get 2018 Release Dates". Variety. Penske Business Media. June 22, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  12. D'Alessandro, Anthony; Tartaglione, Nancy (March 27, 2018). "Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One' To Get Its Game On With $140M+ Global Start". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  13. D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 1, 2018). "Audiences Plug Into 'Ready Player One': Steven Spielberg Movie Looking At $53M+ 4-Day Score". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  14. D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 8, 2018). "'A Quiet Place' Screams To $50M+ Opening; 'Blockers' Breaks Through To $21M+ – Early Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  15. "Weekend Box Office: April 6-8, 2018". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  16. "Tyler Perry's Acrimony (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  17. "Tyler Perry's Acrimony Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  18. Castillo, Monica (March 30, 2018). "Acrimony". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
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