A Day Late and A Dollar Short (2014)

Synopsis
Viola is the asthmatic mother of 4 grown up kids; Charlotte, Janelle, Lewis, and Paris. She recently suffered from a serious asthma attack and was told that the next one might be her last. So she tries to get her family together so she can help them heal their wounds before she dies. The movie shows the struggles of her children as well as the struggles Viola has with her ex-husband Cecil. 

My Verdict
This is a Lifetime movie but while I was watching I thought that it should have been in theaters. I loved it! It brought all all the emotions. I laughed, I cried, was shocked and got angry. 
I've seen my fair share of family movies like this where they are forced to come together because of a tragic event. Some were good and some were not so good. This one was great. It did a good job touching on subjects that aren't really seen in movies like this. They also did an amazing job casting this movie and everyone did an amazing job. It's makes me even more happy that this was an all Black cast.
I'm giving this movie a 9/10. I want it on DVD and I've never said that about a Lifetime movie. I also want to read the book it's based off of by Terry McMillan.

Spoilers
Some specific things I want to talk about that I really liked and made me tear up. First were the letters that Viola wrote to her family. This may not seem like a big deal but she made it so the members of the family had to read the letter to the person they were having issues with. For example, Paris and Charlotte had issues with each other so Paris had to read the letter Viola wrote to Charlotte to Charlotte and vice versa. This is what set this apart from the other movies like this I've seen. It wasn't the mother telling them how to fix their issues. Well, it was her words but she made them say it out loud. It's something about saying it out loud that makes it more powerful and healing than just reading it or hearing it from someone else. 
I liked how it wasn't the funeral that got the family together. Viola knew she was going to die but she didn't tell anyone. They had no idea why she wanted the help them deal with their problems. So it wasn't like the kids were solving their problems for their mother before she died or they were facing their problems with each other because the funeral brought them together after many years. To me, it's more sincere that way because they were fixing their issues because it was necessary, and not just to make their mother happy. 
I also like the very end. After Viola died, she got to spend the afterlife in Paris. It was definitely a tear jerker. 

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