Madea Goes to Jail Poster

Madea Goes to Jail (2009)

Comedy | Drama 
Rayting:   4.4/10 11.4K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 20 February 2009

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

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User Reviews

Anonymous_Maxine 24 February 2009

I guess I should start off by admitting that I've never seen any of the previous Madea films, and that I went into this movie knowing nothing about it except that it's the latest in a long line of similar films which have gotten about the same public response as your average Steven Seagal movie. And that's not good, in case you're wondering. That's okay though, because during the opening credits we see various headlines zooming across the screen, like "Super-Sized Stripper Smacks Spectator," and we get the general idea. Madea has always been a problem for the police, she has a rap sheet a mile long and doesn't feel any need to change her behavior.

The movie comes dangerously close to being another one of those intolerable comedies where Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence star as every character in the movie. Madea's family are clearly meant to resemble the Klumps, although I would be lying if I said that they were not entertaining. Uncle Joe in particular is a goofy caricature, but he's a hilarious one.

The problem with the movie is that it tries to be two very different kinds of films, and it succeeds in being those two kinds of films, but the combination of the two styles kills this one completely. Half the movie is a light-hearted comedy in the vein of the Nutty Professors and Big Momma's House, but the other half of the film is a very serious drama that deals effectively with very serious issues. Life Is Beautiful is the only movie I've ever seen that really succeeds brilliantly at this story-telling technique, but that movie worked because it tied the two genres together. Life also comes close. This one, on the other hand, just throws the two halves in the same room and then sits back while they sit there not working.

Dr. Phil makes a surprisingly hilarious cameo as a therapist that tries in vain to get Madae to admit that she has an anger management problem, which ultimately lands her in jail. Meanwhile, Josh Hardaway, the Assistant District Attorney, is experiencing a wonderfully developing career, until he meets Candace, a childhood friend who has fallen into a desperate situation after years of drugs and prostitution. He tries as hard as he can to help her despite the hysterical and ridiculous whining of his horrid fiancé.

This is one of the worst parts of the movie, by the way. There is nothing worse than a romantic comedy that pits two suitors (male or female) against each other for the love of the main character, when one of the suitors is clearly tailor made to be the right choice and the other is an intolerable jerk-off. See 27 Dresses and you'll know what I mean. Josh's fiancé in this movie is unfortunately such a nagging, conniving wench that it's impossible to have any feelings towards her other than animosity. This is not a good start for a movie whose story is driven by the characters. Almost from the moment she enters the movie I was just waiting for Josh to come to his senses and boot her to the curb where she belongs.

The issues of prostitution and drugs and drugs are taken very seriously, there's even a pretty intensely emotional scene involving one of the key male characters, who breaks down completely under the weight of a tragic event for which he has never been able to forgive himself. The acting is superb in this scene, but it is genuinely bizarre when Madea shows up again and we realize what the rest of the movie is like.

It's impossible to tell if this is supposed to be a comedy or

JungleBunnyBastard 18 June 2009

Fmovies: Now, before anything, I'm a Christian and I do have some religious beliefs. However, I'm not a hardcore Christian. I also can't stand it when people shove religious crap down my throat. I can learn to poke fun at my own religion and laugh because for all I know I could be worshiping the wrong religion. Not a big deal to me. I'm still a decent guy. Religion is always the last thing on my mind.

With that said, this movie was just bad in every way possible. Let me break it down for you: it's not funny, it's not clever, it's not entertaining, it's overlong, it's boring, it's predictable, it's clichéd, the bad acting and dialog make it unwatchable at times with it's stupid one liners. It also tries too hard to be both dramatic and ends up becoming unbearably hammy. It also leaves me wondering: "Is it comedy or drama? Do I even care anymore because of how unlikeable the characters are?" I've seen some comedy/dramas that evenly weigh out each element very well. This film and the rest of Tyler Perry's films don't fit into that category at all.

This also pounds you over the head with religious context and other ridiculous and unrealistic plot elements that just come off as being unintentionally sappy. And why the hell is Dr. Phil in this? Really? Does anyone like this douche bag enough to want him to star in a film (however amateurish)? And not having one pop-culture icon in the film is enough, but they also had to add in another one (Judge Mathis).

Oh, I forgot to tell you the story. Madea goes to jail, but it takes forever before she actually gets there (she's there for the final 20 minutes of the show). Tyler Perry casts his conceded ass into three separate roles in this, which gets tiresome. I have no problem with directors wanting to be in their own films (Braveheart and Annie Hall come to mind) but, damn dude, three roles? Seriously? Oh, yeah, back to the "story". Madea keeps doing dumb stuff so she eventually goes to jail and is ordered anger management (with Dr. Phil of all people) and at the same time a prostitute is trying to get off the streets.

Is there anything in this film that Tyler Perry hasn't done before? Madea? Sexual abuse? Religious elements? Drug addiction? Yes, yes, it's all so sad and so easy for you to get tears jerked from your audience while at the same time giving them a good belly laugh. You are oh-so-clever, Tyler Perry.

All in all, I'm just getting really sick and tired of these stupid Madea movies. Almost as much as those damn "movie" movies with Seltzerberg. The only saving grace in this that I can think of is that the actor who plays Josh is the only one who didn't annoy me. He wasn't good, he just seemed like the only one who was even trying. Kudos to him, but at the same time he should be ashamed to agree to star in a film like this. The man is clearly talented and needs to be in real movies and avoid this kind of crap. He's the only reason why this doesn't get one star out of me. I gave it two for his sake.

Like I said with Not Easily Broken, leave the religious elements out of your films unless it actually does have something to do with it (Last Temptation of Christ, Doubt) but at the same time don't exclude your audience. Next time, Perry, I'm not gonna be so easy on your ass.

thomas1652 12 April 2009

"Madea Goes to Jail" stands out in most of the movies I've seen, for one reason only: It was one of the two movies I've ever walked out on in the theater.

I admit it, I only laughed a couple times...but for the most part ,the humor consisted of nothing but shallow, harshly stereotypical and unclassy "jokes". Tyler Perry's portrayal of African-Americans is almost insulting. Not only that, but Madea was only shown for less than half of it! The only thing saving this from a 1 is Keisha Knight Pulliam's performance. She was the ONLY interesting thing about this crap fest. I look forward to more from her, but please, Tyler Perry, no more.

SenaShetani 23 February 2009

Madea Goes to Jail fmovies. 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.

jackcartlidge8 20 March 2009

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.

josephbrown864 16 December 2011

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!

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