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FRIDAY MATINEE



Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail

Madea Goes to Jail just might be Tyler Perry's best movie to date. The film stars Tyler, back in drag, as the sassy, pistol-packing Mable "Madea" Simmons.

At the beginning of the movie, we find Madea in front of Judge Mablean who recognizes Madea and rattles off her previous run-ins, complete with mug shots....

The judge is reminded by Tyler Perry, as Medea's attorney, that she was never read her Miranda Rights by the arresting officers.....then we see the three officers sitting in the courtroom all beat up and battered... Judge Mablean tells her she has no choice but to let Madea off with a slap on the wrist and a stern warning for leading police on a high-speed freeway chase. Instead of landing behind bars, she is ordered to undergo treatment for anger management with Dr. Phil. While "on the couch", she and the shrink engage in a hilarious exchange causing Dr. Phil to throw up his hands in defeat.

Needless to say, the therapy doesn't work, and Madea goes berserk again when a customer steals her parking spot at the mall. After wrecking the woman's car with a forklift, Madea is arrested again but ends up this time in front of a very incensed Judge Mathis who decides to teach her a lesson.....

.......a sentence of 5-10 years.

Meanwhile, there's a whole parallel, serious, life-lesson plot unfolding involving Assistant District Attorney Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke) who is engaged to Linda, a bourgie colleague who doesn't understand why he might care about rehabilitating Candy (played by Keshia Knight Pulliam), a former friend who has turned to streetwalking.

With the help of a prison minister, Josh does his best to get his friend the help she needs anyway, a decision which destabilizes his once solid relationship. Everything comes to a head when Madea and Candy cross paths in a correctional facility, leading to tidy resolution which not only ties loose ends but elicits a few tears.

The cast also features an incredible number of celebrity cameos, most notably, Dr. Phil, and TV Judges Greg Mathis and Mablean Ephriam, not to mention Reverend Al Sharpton, comedian Steve Harvey, DJs Tom Joyner and Michael Baisden, CNN news anchor Tony Harris, and The View talk show hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Fortunately, for Tyler Perry, balancing all the egos never gets in the way of making a hilarious flick. The finished product is a rollicking roller coaster that ought to be fun for the whole family.

FYI...stay for the closing credits, for some bonus bantering between Madea and Dr. Phil.

I give this movie 4 1/2 out of 5 jail cells.