"Tyler Perry has struck gold with his movies and especially his movies that were plays. A lot of his movies do have messages and meanings. He tries to give tips on how to live life right. Madea Goes to Jail is adapted from his play and focuses on the rude, hot-tempered Madea.

The story is relatively simple. Madea, of course, goes to jail due to many of her altercations. At the same time, we see an engaged District Attorney helping out an old friend who now is a prostitute and lives on the streets. And as he tries to help her, it starts to take its toll on his relationship. So, there are a few plots going on. However, they run together once Candace (the prostitute) finds herself in jail as well.

Derek Luke stars as the DA and he always tries to bring a good performance and he does it here. He has been in Antwone Fisher, Catch A Fire, Miracle at St. Anna, and earlier this year in Notorious. He has good taste for such a young actor. But it is the character of Madea that steals the show. You find yourself waiting for when she shows up on screen again. The character might be out of control and very exaggerated, but it is still fun. It seems like the Tyler Perry movies that have her in it are better. The Diary of a Mad Black Woman has been the only movie that would still have been good if Madea was not in it. Who am I kidding. No it wouldn’t have.

My only negative comment is that each of Tyler Perry’s movies have the same formula. You will always know how each of his movies end. Usually with a happy ending. No matter what the situation is. Besides the humor, there are no surprises involved. This is why the character of Madea brings people to the theatre because it is not necessarily the stories that do.

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