Madea Goes to Jail (2009)

Director:

Tyler Perry

Writer:

Tyler Perry (writer)

Release Date:

20 February 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Mischievous grandma Madea lands in jail, where she meets a variety of mixed-up characters. |

Plot Keywords:

Fourth Part | Sequel | Adaptation Directed By Original Author | Directed By Star | Remake

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tyler Perry	...	Madea / Joe / Brian
Derek Luke	...	Joshua Hardaway
Keshia Knight Pulliam	...	Candace Washington
David Mann	...	Brown
Tamela J. Mann	...	Cora
RonReaco Lee	...	Chuck
Ion Overman	...	Linda
Vanessa Ferlito	...	Donna
Viola Davis	...	Ellen
Sofía Vergara	...	T.T.
Robin Coleman	...	Big Sal
Bobbi Baker	...	Tanya
Aisha Hinds	...	D.A. Fran Walker
Benjamín Benítez	...	Arthur
Karan Kendrick	...	Guard Watson

Also Known As:

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, drug content, some violence and sexual situations.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44944) | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Tyler Perry Company, The

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the beginning of the movie, when Mable's criminal record is shown, her year of birth is shown to be 1962, which would make her 47 years old in 2009, but the character Madea/Mable is portrayed to be much older than 47.

Quotes:

Dr. Phil: What is wrong with you? Why do you feel the need that you gotta "get" somebody all the time?
Madea: Well when you gettin' "got" and somebody done "got" you and you go "get" them, when you get 'em everybody's gon' get got.
Dr. Phil: Yea but you're gettin' the gotters when they didn't do anything to even get you.
Madea: Yea but if the gotters get me I'm gonna get my glock.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Echelon Conspiracy/Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li/Crossing Over (#1.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Off the Wall

Topsy Turvy Movie

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.