Review of Madea Goes to Jail (2009) by Cameron M — 22 Mar 2014

Typically, I like Madea. Say what you want about Tyler Perry, but that character can be hilarious (at times). I watched this movie expecting to see Madea go to jail. That did not happen until after what felt like hours of petty melodrama involving her lawyer (or someone; I honestly don't remember who he was). The thing that ticked me off the most, though, was the love triangle between the lawyer, his fiancée, and the hooker. Perry sets this up so obviously, I was gagging the minute the prostitute came on the scene. It comes as no surprise when the lawyer leaves his fiancée for the prostitute (who isn't exactly a diamond in the rough).

I get that Perry likes to play the redemption card. I get the message, that just because someone has had a rough life doesn't mean they deserve scorn and ridicule. However, what does the lawyer do after meeting up with his former childhood friend (or high school sweetheart; the details are slipping from my mind even now)? He invites her to stay at his house, while his fiancée is there, and gives her his bathrobe to sleep in. When the fiancée is understandably miffed, the movie treats her as the bad guy. I don't know about anyone else, but I would be pretty angry if my husband brought his old girlfriend--who is now a hooker--into his house in the middle of the night, had her take her clothes off, and then dressed her in his bathrobe. Naturally, the hooker comments on how up-tight his fiancée is before suggesting that he used to prefer a more carefree type of woman (like her). When he ultimately leaves her for the hooker, it's no surprise at all and it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Bottom line: I wanted to see Madea, I got a tragic story of a woman whose fiancé left her for a drug-addicted prostitute. I could forgive it if the prostitute had any good qualities, or if the fiancée were really as monstrous as the movie set her up to be, but neither was true and I am very disappointed.