Madea Goes to Jail

I hadn't seen any of Tyler Perry's films before this one because I don't find drag comedy appealing. I didn't expect this to be a great film, but it was much worse than I could have imagined. The main reason is Madea herself. Madea is a rude, hostile, Ghetto cliché of a woman who as the opening credits demonstrated, has spent most of her adult life in and out of jail for various offenses caused by her inability to control her anger and need for revenge. After one particular incident the elderly behemoth must finally endure the consequences and serve time. Although this did not happen until about one hour into the film, I applauded because Madea is clueless to how bad her behavior is that even a trained professional like Dr. Phil couldn't get through to her. She needed to learn that she is not above the law as a sort of comeuppance.

Another reason this film was so bad was that it would frequently shift to a secondary storyline which had nothing to do with Madea. It was something of a "Pretty Woman" premise involving a legal clerk trying to rescue a childhood friend from drugs and prostitution. Every time this happened, it was like somebody getting a remote control and changing the channel. The ending does show a common thread for these story lines but it's not enough to save this train wreck of a film.

After watching Madea, I can't understand why people enjoy Tyler Perry films so much. The Ghetto factor may be the main reason people line up and pay good money to see this garbage. If that's the case, it's very sad that this is what 21st century America considers entertainment. I would have given this a minus rating if IMDb allowed it.

Short tempered, impatient, cussing, pistol carrying and definitely quick to shoot, but yet, in time of need, the most caring person that anyone could ever have as a relative. Does that sound familiar? I am convinced that in one form or another, most people can relate to having such an individual in the family.

My mother (with the exception of carrying a pistol, cussing, and quick to shoot) was such a person in my family. Her choice of weapon was basically a shoe, knife, or whatever she could find in her hand at the time to throw.

I thought of these things as I watched the movie "Madea Goes to Jail." It is a delightful, fictional tale about a southern family, whose matriarch (Mabel Simmons, a.k.a. Madea) has had numerous encounters with the law enforcement of the county in which they live. The film begins with its main character being chased by the police on a highway. By the way, the news is covering the event, which is enabling people to see it as it is happening.

Madea's family and friends, along with the community, watch with mixed emotions concerning the elderly, dearly beloved, but crazed senior citizen as she tries to outwit the police officers and avoid being captured. Captivity, however, is inevitable and justice must be served. Mr. Tyler Perry, the director of this film, brilliantly brings to the attention of the viewer Madea's criminal past by showing photos of her down through the years. Present-day, Madea stands alone (dressed in an orange prison outfit) to face the consequents of her actions of disregard for authority.

Through the interweaving of each character and their individual stories in the film (the engaged interracial couple, prostitute, and seemingly successful assistant district attorney), producer, and writer of the film, Mr. Tyler Perry flawlessly and effortlessly displayed the power of forgiveness: this film is superbly written and a must see for anyone who's struggling with the challenges of life and perhaps seeking forgiveness.

This narrative can't make it's mind up. The director (who also writes it) gets confused between whether he has written a comedy, or a melodrama.

The scenes containing what we believe to be the main protagonist 'Madea' are an attempt at comedy that rely on spectacle and stereotype. The gags aren't executed very well at all (yet you can't blame the actors and actresses with this script) and I get the feeling that this has all been done before, recently in fact and better I might add.

Scenes containing Candi are melodramatic and actually not that bad. There is some good acting and the plot is well contrived. Some of these scenes question American class division and have a purpose.

So, bring these two elements together and you get a confused audience. The two stories have no relevance to each other until the end of the film when they 'collide'. I use collide loosely because this doesn't even happen. The characters meet and nothing much happens. I think they spoke together in about three shots.

The story itself lets the director down as well. It's easy to second guess (yet you wish you'd be proved wrong) and you wonder whether you are watching two different movies playing at once. The character of Madea is badly constructed. There is no development what-so-ever. Without giving too much away; Madea's involvement in the ending is complete nonsense. People who have seen this film will probably agree that she has no real reason to be there.

To sum up, this is the worst film I have seen in years. The director should have picked one of the stories instead of merging them in some sort of Nutty Professor meets Pretty Woman side show. Utterly ridiculous.

Tyler Perry has really outdone himself this time, making the deep artistic statement "I'm black, and I have a fatsuit." Sure, this statement has been made before by Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, and others, but Perry adds a certain panache to the blackness and the fat suit that makes this more than just a movie about a black guy in a fat suit: it is THE movie about a black guy in a fat suit.

There may be other movies out there which you are tempted to see: "Slumdog Millionaire" may have won several acadmey awards, but where's the black guy in the fatsuit? How is that a movie? Tyler Perry continues to push the boundaries of artistic excellence with drag AND a fat suit, and we can only hope some day he decides to throw bad accents and white face into the mix.

I'll keep this short and sweet. It's not Avatar, and it wasn't over produced! It's funny and has a great plot. Here is some advice, get a sense of humor. Not every movie has to be 10/10 to be good. Giving a movie like this anything less than a "5/10!" Is absurd! Quit getting mad just because this movie promotes religion and happiness. Go watch a really Hollywood movie and hop on their bandwagon! This is a real movie, from real people, from real life! These characters take me back to my childhood. Hard times and hard struggles and how in the end, God works things out! I bet half of you people reviewing this movie just hate the religious message! That's all!