*In case you missed the theatrical rlease, Taraji P. Henson slays in Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, available now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Lionsgate.
Written, directed, and produced by the multi-talented Mr. Perry, “Acrimony” reunites Tyler and Oscar nominee Henson for the first time in nine years in this suspenseful thriller about a woman who takes revenge on her unfaithful husband. Starring alongside Taraji are Lyriq Bent (TV’s “The Book of Negroes,” Saw IV), and Crystle Stewart (TV’s “For Better or Worse” and “Too Close to Home”), along with newcomers Ajiona Alexus and Antonio Madison.
Tyler Perry’s “Acrimony” home entertainment release includes the never-before-seen “Unleashing Acrimony” featurette; an exclusive interview with Perry on what inspired him to write the film, a personal favorite of his to date.
“It’s real. It’s raw. It’s about human emotions,” Lyriq tells EUR/Electronic Urban Report during our exclusive conversation. “It’s the type of story that every person that’s ever been in a relationship is going to relate to it.”
Acrimony, he added, “reflects issues that people are going through right now. And they’ll know it’s about them because the narrative is so in your face, in terms of truth.”
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“It’s not sugar-coated. It’s raw and in your face which is why Taraji did such an amazing job playing Melinda. She kept it real. It’s just a real, honest relationship between two people and you basically get both sides of the story, almost simultaneously. You can then reflect and say, “Oh, damn, maybe that’s what I do in my relationship.”
Bent describes his character Robert as “misunderstood.”
“He makes a little mistake here and there but he doesn’t compound those mistakes. Melinda might think differently. But Robert does his best to live up to his word and to be the man that he says he is and could be and wants to be. There’s just a little bit of a misunderstanding.”
If you haven’t seen the film, and you judge the trailer alone, you may be left thinking Robert is dealing with a psycho woman and that men can save themselves a lot of headaches if they just keep it real with women from jump.
“I think there is clarity between Robert and Melinda but we tend to let our minds take us places we think things are happening until we find out that it is so or we find out that we were mistaken,” he said. “Women are very complex creatures and we love them but sometimes Y’all just complicate a situation when there’s just no real situation. But then again, men do create issues that are unnecessary.”
Robert and Melinda’s dynamic is “complex,” Bent states, “but in a simple way.”
Continuing, “Simple in the sense that they met each other very early, at college. So they were young and naive in thinking that they were going to build this beautiful life together. They made an honest attempt at it and they did a pretty good job but I think they loved each other too hard and it left very little room for disappointment, for error, so things were taken really hard and personal. But they were definitely a loving couple and Robert will always love her. I like that dynamic because we don’t generally get to see a black man show that kind of love to his black queen, so it was good to do that and have that experience.”
When asked if he as ever struggled with not being able to let go of something or someone after feeling betrayed, Bent replied:
“That’s a good question. I’ve taught myself for years to let go, ‘cause you’ve got to be able to just let go and not make it so important that you can’t move on. And that’s the same with life. I think the more it hurts, the more you have to walk away because it’s definitely going to take you to a place where you don’t want to be,” he explained. “Some people look at that as true love and so they don’t want to distance themselves from it. I tend to avoid static but not everybody is like that. Some people like drama so they stick with it instead of going somewhere else.”
Bent says “Acrimony” highlights the ways in which men and women “act and think differently at times.”
“We’re just different preachers and this film definitely brings that difference out, in terms of how information is processed. People are going to look at this and they’re going to reflect on their own lives and their own relationships because it is so relevant and it is so relatable because there’s no gimmicks. People are going to appreciate something that speaks to them and not at them.”
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