MOVIE REVIEW-- 'Madea Goes to Jail'
Shanikqua Pickney
Issue date: 3/10/09 Section: Reviews
"Madea Goes to Jail" is not about Madea. She's a smoke screen, a lure, a wriggling worm on a hook used to trick people into sitting through yet another of Tyler Perry's unbearable, ball-less soap operas. This time he's preaching about the dangers of prostitution.
Madea is barely in the movie and she has absolutely nothing to do with anything that's going on, but Perry has the good sense to cut her in all the wacky spots. In case his audience might be considering walking out of the movie, they won't simply because of Madea. You have to sit through his One Life to live version of a soap opera if you want to see the old funny heavyset lady.
The movie is practically over by the time Madea finally does go to jail. Then, it's the story of a lawyer trying to help out an old friend, who has turned to prostitution against the objections of his sharp, rich-mean, one-dimensional false impression of a girlfriend. Derek Luke plays the lawyer and while in addition to films, he's proven himself a more than capable actor. Under Perry's direction, Luke, like everyone else in the movie that isn't hidden under layers of wacky prosthetics, is a failure. Or maybe it's just Perry's plain and bare writing which makes this cast seem so awful. Whatever the reason, this bunch pretty much is horrible.
The soap opera relationship isn't just an accidental offense, it's an exact description of Perry's film, right down to it sloppy camera work and elevator music score. It seems to me, Madea's story has nothing to do with what is happening in this movie. She does not even know any of the people drawn in with this film. Madea exists in an entirely detach and a very undersized film, which if you cut out the prostitution screen it would only be about 15 minutes long. The only purpose in her being in the movie is to sell tickets.
That is what makes Perry's work so insulting. He seems to realize how awful this movie is, and seems to know that his soap opera is garbage, and so he's resorted to dressing up in drag as a way of tricking people into paying him to see it. It's a fraud, a scheme, a con being perpetrated legally and right under our noses. Maybe this all works better on stage. Some of his past movies were great but this one just does not cut it. Madea is wonderful but honestly the film is just over-rated. Madea goes to jail was not rated, 133 minutes long, written and produced by Tyler Perry.
Madea is barely in the movie and she has absolutely nothing to do with anything that's going on, but Perry has the good sense to cut her in all the wacky spots. In case his audience might be considering walking out of the movie, they won't simply because of Madea. You have to sit through his One Life to live version of a soap opera if you want to see the old funny heavyset lady.
The movie is practically over by the time Madea finally does go to jail. Then, it's the story of a lawyer trying to help out an old friend, who has turned to prostitution against the objections of his sharp, rich-mean, one-dimensional false impression of a girlfriend. Derek Luke plays the lawyer and while in addition to films, he's proven himself a more than capable actor. Under Perry's direction, Luke, like everyone else in the movie that isn't hidden under layers of wacky prosthetics, is a failure. Or maybe it's just Perry's plain and bare writing which makes this cast seem so awful. Whatever the reason, this bunch pretty much is horrible.
The soap opera relationship isn't just an accidental offense, it's an exact description of Perry's film, right down to it sloppy camera work and elevator music score. It seems to me, Madea's story has nothing to do with what is happening in this movie. She does not even know any of the people drawn in with this film. Madea exists in an entirely detach and a very undersized film, which if you cut out the prostitution screen it would only be about 15 minutes long. The only purpose in her being in the movie is to sell tickets.
That is what makes Perry's work so insulting. He seems to realize how awful this movie is, and seems to know that his soap opera is garbage, and so he's resorted to dressing up in drag as a way of tricking people into paying him to see it. It's a fraud, a scheme, a con being perpetrated legally and right under our noses. Maybe this all works better on stage. Some of his past movies were great but this one just does not cut it. Madea is wonderful but honestly the film is just over-rated. Madea goes to jail was not rated, 133 minutes long, written and produced by Tyler Perry.
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