"A Long Way to the Big House"
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What You Need To Know:
The comedy in MADEA GOES TO JAIL is slightly uneven, despite two hilarious scenes of Madea arguing with Dr. Phil. The dramatic parts are more interesting and compelling. The drama is helped by good performances from Derek Luke as Joshua and Keshia Knight Pulliam as Candace. In spite of a redemptive Christian ending, MADEA GOES TO JAIL contains plenty of foul language, adult sexual references and some drug content. This content diminishes the positive Christian messages.
Content:
(CC, BB, FR, Pa, AB, Ho, LLL, VV, S, N, A, DD, MM) Strong Christian content with strong moral content, marred by antinomian pagan attitudes and behavior, with examples of an overt anti-Christian resistance to the Gospel and Church before the redemptive ending, plus light homosexual references when a female inmate in prison makes suggestive comments to another female inmate; 71 obscenities (mostly “h” words with some “d” words and some “a-blank-blanks”) and five light profanities, plus an obscene gesture; light comic violence such as machine gun fire heard as woman apparently scares away unwelcome guests and woman fights with police officers, and a strong scene of implied rape after a woman is hit by a pimp; implied rape, prostitutes shown on street at night seeking clients, implied prostitution, and some sexual comments; upper male nudity and some female cleavage; alcohol use; smoking, woman is a drug addict who gets help and an elderly man defends the use of marijuana, claiming that God made the plant so it must be okay to smoke it; and, lying, prosecutor frames criminals, uncontrollable anger, arguing, and rebellion against authority.
More Detail:
Tyler Perry’s Madea movies blend broad comedy with melodrama. The combination does not work so well in MADEA GOES TO JAIL, because the comedy is not always funny. Also, it takes awhile before Mr. Perry links his comical story with the dramatic one.
In the movie’s dramatic portion, Joshua, an assistant district attorney in Atlanta, tries to help a friend, Candace, a drug addict who has been picked up for prostitution. Joshua feels responsible for Candace’s downfall years ago when he failed to protect her from being raped by some college football players at their school.
Derek’s efforts to help Candace upset his fiancé, Linda, who works with Joshua in the prosecutor’s office. Linda conspires to add some criminal charges from another file that’s been closed onto Candace’s file.
Meanwhile, Madea herself has problems with the law. She cannot control her own anger. At first, a judge orders her to take an anger management course. Madea doesn’t do well in the course, and she is forced to go to Dr. Phil himself.
Eventually, midway through the story, Madea and Candace end up in jail together. Madea helps Candace avoid the advances of a tough female inmate as both get counseling from a female preacher ministering to the women convicts.
The comedy scenes in MADEA GOES TO JAIL are a bit uneven, despite two scenes of Madea arguing with Dr. Phil, which are hilarious. The first of those two scenes slows down the plot a bit.
Consequently, it’s the dramatic portion of the movie that is more interesting and compelling. The drama is helped by the performances of Derek Luke as Joshua and especially Keshia Knight Pulliam as Candace. Another problem is that the jail part mentioned in the movie’s title doesn’t happen until midway through the story.
In spite of a redemptive Christian ending, MADEA GOES TO JAIL contains plenty of foul language, adult sexual references and some jokes about using marijuana. This content diminishes the movie’s positive Christian messages.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
