FAQ

April () is forced to take in her sister's three children—16-year-old Jennifer (Hope Olaidé Wilson) and Jennifer's two younger brothers Manny (Kwesi Boakye) and Byron (Frederick Siglar)—and resents their intrusion into her life as a nightclub singer and paramour to a married man, Randy (Brian White), who dislikes children. It's not made any easier when church-sent handyman Sandino (Adam Rodriguez) asks for room and board in exchange for repairs needed around the house.

Like most of Tyler Perry's movies, I Can Do Bad All by Myself is based on a Perry play of the same name.

When Jennifer has just about given up hope, Madea tells her this story about St Peter and how he almost gave up hope, too: Peter was one of the 12 disciplines. They were on a boat out on the isle of the Greek Atlantic Ocean. And when they was on this boat, the storm rose up. And the 12 disciplines, they got really really worried and upset, and they said, "Oh, no, what we gonna do?" They saw something coming toward them on the water, looked like a ghost. But it wasn't a ghost...it was Jesus. And Peter say, "Jesus, if that's you, let me come out there." You gotta be careful what you ask the Lord for. So Jesus said, "Come on out." So Peter stepped out of the boat and was walking on the water...toward Jesus. Long as he kept his eyes on him, he stayed on top of the water. He took his eyes off him, though. You know why? He got distracted. You know why he got distracted? When you got your eye on Jesus, you can't get distracted by nothing. Jonah passed by on the belly of the whale. He looked down, Free Willy with Jonah inside the belly, and it made him distracted, so he started to sink. He said, "Jesus, Jesus, help me." Jesus said, "I can't. I gotta go to Calvary. I'm late." So Jesus went on to the cross. He said, "I'm gonna send you a comforter. When the comforter comes, you gonna be all right."

So he's swimming. He try and swim. He just worried, and Jaws was coming, all that Steven Spielberg had did that Jaws thing. It was surrounding him. He was worried. You know what happened? Just in the nick of time, when you think you ain't gonna make it, just in the nick of time something happens. Noah came up in the arch. That's right, Noah came rowing up in the arch of St Louis Arch, and he pulled right up beside him. He got on there. He said, Thank you for saving me. Noah said, "No problem, man. Cool, what's up, fool?" So they spoke to each other. He said, "Come on, let me show you around." Noah had turned the arch into a cruise ship cause he ain't had nothing to do since he saved the world. And you know who on there? Eve. She was in the VIP section. And Peter asked, he said, "Eve, come on, go to the show." So she went to see this show. And they had tigers. You know they had two tigers, two bears, two lions. You know, the male and the female. Well, Siegried and Roy was there, and they had the two lions, and them lions jumped out and scratched Eve. That's how Eve got them two paws right there [points to his chest]. You ever see Eve with them two paws? She got two paws right there.

Read your Bible some time, honey. Read your Bible.

After Sandino stops Randy from attempting to rape Jennifer in the kitchen and gives him three minutes to get out of the house, April heads down to the Indigo Club for a drink. Sandino follows later, and April (now heavily drunk) bemoans the fact that she should have recognized the signs, just like her mother should have recognized them, as should anyone notice when a grown man takes interest in a little kid. April then remembers the interest that Sandino has taken in Jennifer and her brothers and accuses him of being a child molester, too. Sandino says that she's "sick" and walks out. When April finally comes home, she is confronted by a thankful Jennifer who promises that she and the boys will be no trouble and will help with the housework and bills, if she will let them stay. Having already made up her mind to take them in, April sends them all upstairs to sleep in the new bedroom that Sandino made for them. The next day, Sandino says goodbye to the children and leaves. While unpacking some of Mama Rose's things, Jennifer tells April that Sandino is a good man and that April should probably hold onto him. Through the open window, April suddenly hears the church choir singing "Oh Lord I Want You to Help Me," Mama Rose's favorite song. Following the service, Sandino returns to April's house. After a bit of beating around the bush, they both admit their love for each other and seal it with a kiss. The final scenes take place at April and Sandino's wedding reception at which Tanya (Mary J. Blige) leads the crowd in "Good Woman Down."

During the credits, there is a montage of outtakes and bloopers that didn't make it into the movie.