Tyler Perry, the one-man writer-producer-director of Meet the Browns and Why Did I Get Married has scored another box office hit with The Family that Preys. The self-proclaimed King of Drama’s new flick with a strong cast brought in more than $18 million in the opening weekend.

Preys is an entertaining and funny film with an easy-to-follow, though sometimes too- predictable storyline that is true to Perry’s form: No matter whether the tale turns sad or sweet, humor is present at every step.

The Family that Preys is about two southern families that are tied together by the interracial friendship between the matriarchs, Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard) and Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates). The issues of race, class, adultery and interracial relationships are played out mostly through the lives of their children.

Perry’s tendency towards predictability produces a film in which characters are one-dimensional: they are either good or bad, likeable or not. Andrea, played by Sanaa Latham, is a successful, Harvard-educated financial professional who lands a high-paying job at Charlotte Cartwright’s development company. Although Andrea has the good job, education and money, she consistently shows a lack of class by talking down to her “lower class,” hard-working mother, Alice, and sister, Pam (Taraji P. Henson) who both work in her mother’s diner.

On the Cartwright side, the villain is Charlotte’s son William who is secretly trying to take control of his mother’s company while sleeping with “the help,” Andrea. Perhaps Perry is making a statement about the slavery era, since William has the beautiful white wife with whom he plays the doting husband, while keeping his loins satisfied with his African-American mistress.

And in the midst of all the Cartwright’s debauchery, Alice and Charlotte take a Thelma and Louise meets Driving Miss Daisy trip across the country. Though hokey, the trip revealed how their strong friendship transcended race and class.

Fans of Showtimes’ “Soul Food” will appreciate seeing Rockmond Dunbar back on the screen. However, he could have played a more believable character. Dunbar is Andrea’s simple (read: stupid) husband, Chris, a construction worker who is constantly humiliated by his cheating wife.

Three cheers for Robin Given’s character, Abby, the Ivy League-educated chief operating officer hired by Charlotte Cartwright to run her company and leave her son wide-eyed and wide-mouthed. Smart, educated and classy, Abby developed her impressive resume through working hard and not working “it” unlike her counterpart, Andrea.

Perhaps one of the most interesting casting choices was Sanaa Latham who, for once, doesn’t play the good girl. From Love & Basketball to Brown Sugar to Something New, Latham always played the woman you were rooting for. In Preys her character Andrea is so dirty, mean and ungrateful that you just want to drop-kick her.

Although Perry aptly depicts the ups and downs of friendship, love, relationships and family while dipping his toe into the race and class pond, he could have created more three-dimensional characters and a story line that wasn’t so foreseeable.