Review and news hub for movies, music and video games

Movie:		2.0
Picture:		4.0
Sound:		3.0
Extras:		4.0
Score:		2.0

Director(s):	Tyler Perry
Writer(s):	Tyler Perry
Starring:	David Mann • Derek Luke • Ion Overman • Keshia Knight Pulliam • Tyler Perry
Genre:	Comedy
Release Date:	June 16, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $15.99
Amazon:

Where does Tyler Perry’s appeal lie? His films are horribly directed, have blatant racial prejudices and constantly revert back to the transvestite granny which gave him his first wild success. Madea may have had her time and place in the cultural spotlight, but since her direct-to-video debut in Madea’s Family Reunion she’s failed to change, grow or improve in any way, shape or form. The Madea franchise stagnated after the first film and yet Tyler Perry has pounded out at least eight Madea-infused productions since then. His latest, Madea Goes to Jail fails in every conceivable way.

Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke) has a promising career in law ahead of him – until his life goes off the tracks with the arrival of an old ex-girlfriend Candy (Keshia Knight Pulliam). Only, unlike many meetings between ex’s, Joshua finds Candy as a client of his firm trying to evade jail time for a prostitution charge. He takes her in as his fiancée Linda (Ion Overman) watches with an all-too-often verbalized distress over the matter. Meanwhile, Madea (Tyler Perry) has her day in court only to be acquitted after the police officers responsible for her arrest failed to read her the Miranda rights. But Madea’s personality will only allow her stay out of trouble for about half the movie and eventually she winds up in the slammer.

At its most basic, typical Tyler Perry level, Madea Goes to Jail is about forgiveness, faith and reconciliation. Perry hits the audience over the head with moments of painfully blunt dialogue paying lip service to Christianity as a sort of penance for the film’s prevalent themes of idiocy. If all you take from the movie are Perry’s themes of “doing the right thing” and “Jesus loves you” then you’re exactly the audience he wanted. But if you’re capable, if even just for a moment, of seeing the movie and looking at everything it puts on the table, you’ll recognize the bigotry and backhanded nods that fall throughout the film. Sure, Linda may be a bitch, but she’s also an ADA and it’s her job to prosecute. So why does Tyler Perry vilify her as if enforcing the law is an evil act (the fact that she’s corrupt by the end is unrelated). Or maybe the audience should ignore the Spike Lee-esque caricatures of every white character in the film? Your choices for white characters in Madea Goes to Jail are: Dr. Phil, a hulking she-male, a sexual deviant of a social worker or an incompetent lawyer.

What’s more infuriating than the piss-poor writing and directing of Madea Goes to Jail? The fact that Tyler Perry somehow stacks his films with talented actors in spite of his talentless production. It’s understandable why Derek Luke might have signed on to Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna – Lee is an established director who, despite his many failures, has put out one or two decent films in his day. But Tyler Perry? The man has never made a film of any substance or worth; which might explain why amidst the few talented folks he pulls in for his films, he keeps recasting the few who owe him their careers (mainly because they’ll never get acting jobs anywhere else – David Mann, anybody?).

There is one shiny moment in Madea Goes to Jail – and it might be the one time Madea as a character has ever been funny. During a therapy session with Dr. Phil (who has an affinity for Tyler Perry apparently), the two get caught up in a moment of fast-tongued debate which rises to a humorous crescendo. Now for the real kicker: this moment in no way reflects well on Tyler Perry’s ability as a writer. Why not? Because it’s entirely improvised on the part of Perry and the good doctor. The best moment in the film, and it’s improvised. Wow, Mr. Perry, that’s got to be embarrassing.

DVD Bonus Features

There’s little to be said for the extra features on the disc save for “Bringing in the Heavy Hitters”. “Heavy Hitters” lets Perry talk about the talent he’s managed to pull to his project, in my opinion, undeservedly. It’s here he reveals that the singularly humorous scene with Dr. Phil wasn’t of his own machination but an impromptu conversation after the main takes had ended. Beyond that it’s just Perry and his cast talking about stunts (dropping a car’s shell off a forklift), characters and sets.