This movie was so touching...without being corny. The book is one of my favorites and the movie stayed mostly true to it. I just wished it was a little longer...the characters fleshed out more. I was able to follow the storyline easily because of reading the book, but someone not familiar with Viola and her family would not be invested in the characters as much because they get such a short time to impress upon the viewer their perosnalities. Still -great, great job for all those involved! From now on out I know when I pick up my well worn cop I will envision the actors as these characters. They breathed a great new life into an already wonderful story!

After a 38 year marriage, Ving Rhames leaves Whoopi Goldberg and soon finds himself with a very pregnant younger woman. Is he the father of the woman's child?

That's only the tip of the iceberg in this 2014. Seems that the Rhames-Goldberg liaison produced 4 children through the years and to say that they've had their troubles is to put it mildly. The dysfunction even comes down to the grandchildren.

Goldberg had always hoped for a trip to Paris. Stricken with severe asthma and a weakening heart, she is told that she has a short time to live and she desperately tries to bring unity back in the family.

The inevitable is well dealt with Goldberg writing letters to her children and family urging them to coalesce as a family.

We know that Goldberg reaches her "heaven" in this very touching film that shows that middle to upper class black people have plenty of adversity in their lives.

"There's a whole lot of mess I have to clean up before I go." Viola (Goldberg) is the matriarch of a family that has fallen apart. Her kids all hate each other, the husband has found a new woman and no one likes her anymore. After a health scare she is given news that changes her life. On the verge of death she decides it time to fix her family before it's too late. I will start with...yes this is a Lifetime movie, I am a guy, I actually did enjoy it. That said though it was a little too sappy for me. I think, like most movies lately, when another movie that is about the same thing comes out comparisons begin. This one is very much like August Osage County in plot and theme. While this movie was good and worth seeing August was so much better. Seeing that one first may have affected how I felt about this one but August had deeper relationships and just felt like a more complete movie. It may have been because it was a made-for-TV movie but this felt really thin compared to the other one. All that said though the movie is good and if you haven't seen August then you may like this more then I did. Overall, a good movie worth seeing but once again a movie suffers from being too identical to a recent movie. I give this a B-.