Madea Goes to Jail

Lionsgate | Release Date: February 20, 2009

5.3	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Ratings

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shanequaMay 12, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. DAYM NIGGUH DIS MOVIE IS DA SHIITt… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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SKMar 4, 2009

Terrible... This was actually 2 movies in 1 where neither had anything to do with each other. One being the obvious Madea comedy and the other an over the top drama. I was waiting the entire time for how these two plots would weave Terrible... This was actually 2 movies in 1 where neither had anything to do with each other. One being the obvious Madea comedy and the other an over the top drama. I was waiting the entire time for how these two plots would weave intricately together and show how the two lives would affect each other. Instead they just ended up at the same jail and had a couple minor scenes together. In fact, the whole idea of "Madea goes to jail" is misleading. She was probably in jail for about 20 minutes of the movie and half the time was spent in a cliche montage as the days of a calendar get counted off. For as little as the jail had to do with anything, it might as well have been called, "Madea drives a car" or "Madea gets angry". Sadly "Ernest goes to jail" had more of a plot and purpose than this movie.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful

ChadS.Feb 20, 2009

Accidents will happen. With veteran actress Kathy Bates on board, this filmmaker's approach to hodgepodge plotting and abrupt tonal shifts resulted in a moderately entertaining film that stood a fighting chance of reaching an audience Accidents will happen. With veteran actress Kathy Bates on board, this filmmaker's approach to hodgepodge plotting and abrupt tonal shifts resulted in a moderately entertaining film that stood a fighting chance of reaching an audience beyond its fervent base. In retrospect, "The Family That Preys" was an accident; a guilty pleasure for people who had previously thought they were immune to overwrought melodrama. This one, however, is for Madea cultists; this one is for the base. Non-fans won't change their minds about the homegrown auteur's most polarizing character, who serves no other purpose, it seems, but to reassess such Eddie Murphy lowlights as "Norbit", and "The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps". To an outsider, the man occupying those frumpy frocks appears to have no comic chops whatsoever. He transforms a segment of American moviegoers into French cineastes. In "Madea Goes to Jail", as the title makes explicit, God's favorite drag queen is back, along with the ham-fisted Christian moralizing that draws a straight line between the believers and the haters. "Madea Goes to Jail" is so unspeakably awful, to quote Elvis Costello circa "Armed Forces": "I just don't know where to begin." For starters, that cute little Rudy Huxtable from "The Cosby Show", plays a fifty-dollar hooker(Keisha Knight-Pulliam) with a grudge against her childhood friend, who let some fraternity boys gang-rape her at college(the movie is like a cross between Richard Linklater's "Tape" and the Duke men's lacrosse scandal). It's a toss-up as to what's worse: Josh's monotonous arguments with Linda(Ion Overman) over the whiny prostitute, or his teary-eyed breakdown on a park bench. And of course, when Candace goes to jail, she just happens to share the same cell as her street-walking friend. How absurdly convenient; it's like summer camp.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful

TheateraNerdJul 9, 2012

The critics have done it AGAIN! They have underated another GREAT Perry film! This movie's too good to get such a low score. People who rated this movie low are just JEALOUS just like spike lee is because Tyler Perry makes GREAT films.The critics have done it AGAIN! They have underated another GREAT Perry film! This movie's too good to get such a low score. People who rated this movie low are just JEALOUS just like spike lee is because Tyler Perry makes GREAT films. REMEMBER.....jealousy is a sin!!!!.....… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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JayHJun 13, 2009

Tyler Perry at his worst. The production values are below par, even the make-up isn't good. Over acted, extremely predictable and the Madea character isn't funny, she's obnoxious. Poor structure, badly written. Awful.

1 of 3 users found this helpful

kevingMar 23, 2009

The previews were misleading. This was a movie for Tyler Perry to get on his soap box. This is a movie about black peoples problems.And how unfair Society is.NOT FUNNY and BAD ACTING. Perry's A family that prey's together is a The previews were misleading. This was a movie for Tyler Perry to get on his soap box. This is a movie about black peoples problems.And how unfair Society is.NOT FUNNY and BAD ACTING. Perry's A family that prey's together is a excellent movie though.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

BHJul 23, 2009

I'm not sure why Madea's name is in the title of this movie. I believe it was done as a marketing scheme because chances are that no one would have given this video a second glance given the real story. Movie fans will likely be I'm not sure why Madea's name is in the title of this movie. I believe it was done as a marketing scheme because chances are that no one would have given this video a second glance given the real story. Movie fans will likely be very wary of the next Madea movie after feeling like they've been cheated and tricked by this one.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

CrazyBlackManMay 12, 2011

this movie is SOOOOO GOOD I LAUGHED EVEN WHEN IT WANT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY OMG I ALMOST DIED PF LAUGHTER WATCHING THIS MOVIE BUY IT I WOULD PAY 2000 DOLLARS TO SEE THIS AGAIN I LUV THIS MOVIE

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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meelan.Jul 18, 2009

This movie was classic tyler perry, it was comedy and drama, very good. Madea should have stayed in jail longer though...lol she is the best!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Captain_KirkAug 19, 2012

The fact that this was marketed as a Madea movie just blows my mind. The majority of the film is focused around a hooker and a man trying to help her, while we get just bits and pieces of scenes with Madea. The majority of the jokes failed toThe fact that this was marketed as a Madea movie just blows my mind. The majority of the film is focused around a hooker and a man trying to help her, while we get just bits and pieces of scenes with Madea. The majority of the jokes failed to make me even smile while I got insanely bored with the serious side of the film when we're supposed to be seeing Madea, given the title of the movie. The film suffers from identity crisis and fails at both drama and comedy. I would have given it a 4, but I'd be happier to see the negative user rating bar increase a little more.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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PrinceIkeApr 30, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Jesus Christ this movie is ****
i cant believe a human made this
its been like 20 movies Tyler, you cant base a movie off of just being black
Its uninspired,its pointless and theres only more to come.
Perry has yet to emerge from his own **** and see a color besides black,.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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greedybadideaJun 13, 2020

After a high-speed freeway police chase (seen in Meet the Browns) results in Madea being pulled over and arrested (though she is not convicted due to a legal loophole, as the officers failed to read her Miranda warning), she admits herAfter a high-speed freeway police chase (seen in Meet the Browns) results in Madea being pulled over and arrested (though she is not convicted due to a legal loophole, as the officers failed to read her Miranda warning), she admits her permanent license suspension and Judge Mablean Ephriam places her in an anger management course. Returning home from court, Madea finds a party taking place in her house hosted by her brother, Joe Simmons, who claims he threw the party to try and cheer up Madea. However, Madea isn't amused by the festivities and uses a machine gun to scare the party goers away.
Madea consults with Doctor Phil McGraw for anger management, but does not cooperate with McGraw. Returning home, Madea, needing to buy groceries, calls Cora, who is at the hair salon, to drive her to the store, but Cora refuses to end her appointment early, angering Madea. Joe predicts that Madea will get into trouble if she drives to the store herself, but Madea ignores him and goes anyway. At Kmart, a woman steals the parking space that Madea was about to take and acts very snobbish to Madea when she confronts the woman over it, so Madea commandeers a forklift truck to remove the woman's car from the space, wrecking the car in the process. Madea is arrested and brought to court again, where Judge Greg Mathis sentences her to prison for five to ten years.
Josh later runs into his friend Ellen, a former drug addict and prostitute who has now become a minister that helps other women get off the streets. After Josh asks Ellen to help Candace, Ellen gets her a job interview, but it results in sexual harassment by the interviewer, whom Candace kicks in the groin before storming out. Just before Madea's trial, Ellen asks Josh how he knows Candace. He tells Ellen that they were close friends from childhood through college, but during their college years, all of Josh's friends mistreated and bullied Candace because of her background and he started pushing her away out of embarrassment. He breaks down when he talks about one particular night when he took her to a party. He ended up going on a date and leaving Candace behind at the party, where a group of his friends gang-raped her in his absence. Since then, Josh has continued to harbor deep-seated guilt for leaving her behind and failing to protect her. Ellen comforts him and tells him that he shouldn't continue holding on to the guilt and that it was never his fault, especially since Candace already had personal troubles beforehand.
At the district attorney's office, Josh's best friend, Chuck, runs into Linda and discovers that she is falsifying Candace's file to deliberately get her sent to prison and away from Josh, a practice she has engaged with other defendants as well, including Madea. Linda blackmails him to keep his mouth shut under the threat of telling their and Josh's boss, the head A.D.A. that Chuck cheated on his bar exam to get his law license. Candace refuses to show up to her trial and returns to prostitution, until she is arrested by an undercover policeman. Due to Linda's falsifying of her file, the judge gives her a seventeen-year prison sentence. Linda later lies to Josh back at the office and tells him that she "tried" to be lenient, but that the case was too severe. Chuck overhears this and nearly tells Josh the truth, but hesitates because of Linda's previous threat towards him.
While in prison, Madea befriends Candace and comes to her defense when she is sexually harassed by Big Sal. Candace, Madea, T.T. (Madea's cellmate) and Donna (Candace's fellow prostitute friend) attend a class taught by Ellen at the prison, in order to have time reduced from their sentences. During a lesson about forgiveness, Madea notices that some of the inmates would rather play victim instead of taking responsibility for their crimes. She tells the class they need to stop seeing themselves as victims and forgive those who led them onto the bad paths they've been on, as they weren't the ones who ended up in jail. Candace is moved by her words and during a visit with Josh, she admits that back when she was raped at the party he took her to, she called his name repeatedly as the attack happened, but he never came for her. Candace held on to her anger at him for so long that she forgot how to move on, which resulted in her dropping out of school and becoming a drug addict and prostitute. But with everything she learned from Ellen and Madea, she finally decides to forgive Josh and pick up the pieces of her life.
On Josh's wedding day, Chuck, serving as best man, tells him that Linda falsified Candace's file. During the ceremony, Josh, appalled by Linda's deceit and fraud, tells the congregation, including their boss, the Mayor and the Governor what she has done and jilts her at the altar, to Chuck’s satisfaction. Josh then rushes to the prison where he admits to Candace that he loves her and will help her get out of jail and restore her life.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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