Madea Goes to Jail

I scratched my head through most of this movie and remain quite bewildered by it now that I've seen the whole thing. What's with the title? Madea (one of those man playing a woman characters) is really only about half of the movie, the half that deals with Madea is silly at best and irritating at worst, and she only goes to jail for about the last 20 minutes. So what's with "Madea Goes To Jail" as if that's the focal point of the story?

The real meat of the story revolves around the relationship between Joshua (Derek Luke) and Candi (Keshia Knight Pulliam.) Joshua is a DA who rose from the wrong side of the tracks and is now engaged to Linda (Ion Overman) - another DA and something of a "princess" - as she's repeatedly called. Candi, meanwhile, is a prostitute who grew up with Joshua and who reconnects with him. Joshua has a need to help her out of her situation. Something happened between the two years ago that makes Joshua feel responsible for Candi, but it takes a while for that to come out. This story is the "meat" of the movie, far more central than the Madea storyline, and not really related to it in any meaningful way. The Candi story is a heavy one: prostitution, drugs, jail, rape. For a comedy this is actually pretty dark most of the way through. Madea, I guess, is supposed to provide the comedy, but aside from a handful of scenes doesn't really accomplish that. There's a bizarre focus on religion throughout this, highlighted by a decent enough turn by Viola Davis as an unorthodox minister reaching out to the local streetwalkers. Even Dr. Phil appears in this. The exchange between him and Madea was cute for a while, but got tired very fast, and why it was deemed necessary to have yet another portrayal of a Madea/Dr. Phil session run during the closing credits is one of those mysteries no one will ever be able to explain.

If this had just focused on the Joshua/Candi story it would have made for some pretty good material and a pretty powerful movie. Unfortunately, the nonsense surrounding the Madea material drags everything else about this movie down. This is basically a poorly put together and overall unappealing movie. (3/10)

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!

I found this movie to be lacking severely in plot structure and and in character development. There are many times when the director's attempts to be funny overshadow any chance there may be for character growth. A lot of the acting was wooden and there were many clichés thrown in there that the director was hoping no one would catch onto. The ending was especially horrendous as it appears the director could not come up with anything else so just made something up.

There were two highlights: Viola Davis' role in the film and when the lights came on in the theater and we were allowed to leave. Other than that I wouldn't want to see it again.

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 said it before...Let's show respect for each other. We can share our opinions without belittling and insulting one another. In his movies and plays, Tyler brings a lot of serious issues to our attention, and he uses the characters to help a lot of people deal with those issues. Now that we are increasing awareness rather than continuing to hide these issues, it's time to do something about them. Don't support Tyler Perry only to be entertained by Madea, Brown, or other characters, or to critique their work. Personally, I wasn't entertained by MGTJ. However, I did leave the theatre with an increased awareness of a very serious issue in our society. There's always a message, worth hearing, in Tyler's work.

If you like APF's (audience participation films), this is the movie for you, and by all means see MGTJ at the theatre. You'll enjoy the commentary, hysterical laughter in anticipation of the punch lines, ab-libbing, etc. Otherwsie, I recommend viewing on cable or satellite - with an open mind. See the bigger picture and ask yourself, "Does this film present issues that I can do something about?" Your commitment doesn't have to be large-scale. Maybe you resolve to challenge your old views.

If you don't like MGTJ, or you don't respect TP as a film maker. Make a better film addressing these issues and calling people to action.

Blessings, ~VP