Critic Watch: Madea Goes to Jail

---Tyler Perry is making a name of himself, but not necessarily in such a good way. Remember Jim Varney (1949-2000) and the “Ernest Goes to…” series? They are probably some of the most annoying films of the 90s and the early 2000s. Towards the middle of the 2000s Tyler Perry started making films in a similar fashion. He writes and directs movies about the sentimentality of black families featuring his signature character, Madea, a voluptuous wife and grandmother. Most notably, he wrote “Madea’s Family Reunion” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” On IMDb.com, all of his films are rated worse than all of the “Ernest” series, just to give some perspective. On February 20 “Madea Goes to Jail” was released in theaters. Averaging a 50 out of 100 on metacritic.com, here is what some of the few reviewers had to say.
---Owen Gleiberman of ‘Entertainment Weekly’, in his very short review, gave the movie a C. He says “As long as Madea, the primly old-fashioned yet fearlessly badass matriarch, is shooting off her machine-gun mouth, Tyler Perry's latest soul operetta lives up to the mischief promised by its title.” However he doesn’t think it happens enough, as most of the film is the story of a lawyer trying to resurrect a former friend turned prostitute. He thinks Madea is very entertaining and gives out some good race and class lessons, but really isn’t that good all around.
---“At times their intensity is almost too much for the movie, making the transitions from raw emotion to silly humor all the more jarring” says A.O. Scott from ‘The New York Times.’ Scott doesn’t seem to actually like this movie either. He claims that Tyler Perry does entertain his target audience but really could make better movies; however with his character Madea he may not have to. Not only that, but with this movie Perry shows that his movie making skills are still “noticeably unpolished.”
---On a more positive note, critic Philip Kennicott of ‘The Washington Post’ thinks Tyler Perry achieved his goal and did it well on the way. He thinks that without Madea, the movie is a great weeper of a social drama. However with Madea it’s a great mix of the latter genre and slapstick comedy. Kennicott also noticed that Perry uses many of the same actors from some of his previous works, which he calls “immensely successful.”
---Back on the negative, Wesley Scott of ‘The Boston Globe’ thinks Perry would almost be better off writing day time soaps. “Why clear up in one scene what can be dragged across 10?” Madea is too much for Scott in long doses and he thinks that Perry could do a better job in his writing, even if his heart is in the right place now. Wesley criticizes the relationships of the characters in that their characteristics are not typical of their supposed standing in the movie, but he shows a commitment to the black experience through melodrama.
---Last, J.R. Jones of ‘The Chicago Reader’ loves Perry’s new movie. “…This enjoyable comedy is quicker on the uptake than any of Eddie Murphy's fat ladies, quicker even than Flip Wilson's Geraldine Jones.” He thinks that Perry has an expertise in dealing with the female audiences because of his drag performances as Madea. Jones also likes the mix between the melodrama, supported by the great acting job of Derek Luke, and Madea’s antics.
---Will Tyler Perry improve his camera work and writing by sacrificing his loud mouthed quintessential character? It’s doubtful. As much as it would benefit him and Hollywood, he keeps making money and so there’s no reason for him to quit.