Madea Goes to Jail

2009

Action / Comedy / Crime / Drama

13
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 95% · 51 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 95% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 4.7/10 10 13664 13.7K

african american comedy prostitute jealousy prostitution judge women's prison

Plot summary

After a high-speed car chase, Madea winds up behind bars because her quick temper gets the best of her. Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Josh Hardaway lands a case that's too personal to handle: that of a young prostitute and former drug addict named Candace, also a childhood friend. When Candace winds up in jail, Madea takes the young woman under her protective wing.

Director

Tyler Perry Photo
Tyler Perry

Top cast

Al Sharpton Photo
Al Sharpton as Al Sharpton
Joy Behar Photo
Joy Behar as Joy Behar
Keshia Knight Pulliam Photo
Keshia Knight Pulliam as Candace Washington
Jackson Walker Photo
Jackson Walker as Mr. Brackman
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
946.99 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 42 min
Seeds 13
1.9 GB
1920*1072
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 42 min
Seeds 41

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Anonymous_Maxine 4 / 10

"Super-Sized Stripper Smacks Spectator" – 'Madea Goes To Jail' Review

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 a drama, because both elements are done fairly well but they simply don't work when put together. I don't need my movies to be categorized, in fact I am pleasantly surprised when films cleverly bend genres, but this one gives us one character with a truly frightening history of drugs and prostitution and another character who lifts a car up on giant forklifts and then drops it 30 feet onto the pavement when a callous owner steals her spot at K-Mart.Ultimately Madea and Candace get locked up in the same prison, and the two stories attempt in vain to come together. I won't say that all of the character are utterly uninteresting, although there are several points where a stupendous lack of screen writing ability is made abundantly clear. Consider this exchange between Candace and her new cell-mate, who happens to be one of her old, close friends – Candace: "You look good." Cellmate: "Yeah, I'm doin' good. How you doin'?"Are you serious? I'm doin' good? How you doin'? Is this an inside joke? You're both in prison! Who says they're doin' good or asks someone else how they're doin' when both of them are in prison? But maybe I'm nitpicking. There are moments of fun in the movie, there are a few laugh out loud moments, and there are some moments of pretty impressive acting, but the movie as a whole, unfortunately, adds up to something much, much less than the sum of its parts.
Reviewed by salsamivida 6 / 10

Not brilliant, but not bad either!

Possible spoilers: Like everyone else, I would have liked to have seen more Madea, too.What I liked about the film: Madea, of course - the Dr. Phil scenes were pretty funny.Keshia Knight Pulliam - she's come a long way from little Rudy! Overall, I enjoyed the warmth of the film. I know the plot wasn't necessarily realistic (ADA suddenly realizes he's in love with friend who is a very newly reformed prostitute; everyone finds God; etc.) but personally I like a happy ending. Honestly, how realistic is any romantic comedy being put out these days, anyway? How much realism do we get in the movies? Don't we have enough realism in our day to day lives??? What I disliked: - Why is the wealthy, gorgeous girl also a heartless and evil stereotype? I wasn't sure where Perry was going with this.The only white people in the film were also shrill/evil stereotypes (the lecherous potential boss, the nasty housewife/shopper). If you want to make a film focused on one group, race, area, etc., fine, there's nothing wrong with that. But why were the only two white characters so bad? (There was also Dr. Phil, of course; he's just annoying, but that's my opinion.) - Perry tends to overreach a bit in his plots. This is a pattern with all his films, and it takes away from the overall movie because there's too much to follow (this was particularly true with "Madea's Family Reunion." After a while I lost track because there was so much going on!).Overall, I did like this movie, but I think it could have been better. I'll always love Madea!
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