VIDEO: The trailer for Madea Goes to Jail
After a few Madea-less sojourns, Tyler Perry brings back his colossal cross-dressed caricature — a Georgia peach with the shoulders of a linebacker, full of sass and advice and ready to throw down (in case you didn't know). Perry's life lesson here is to forgive, be responsible, and not blame others.
Joshua (Derek Luke), a newly minted assistant DA from the wrong side of town, gets engaged to Linda (Ion Overman), a fair-toned belle with connections, drive, and class. The storybook romance ends when Joshua has to excuse himself from a prostitution case because he knows the defendant, Candy (Keshia Knight Pulliam); there's an outbreak of jealousy, miscommunication, and stilted set-ups, and Madea and Candy wind up (yes) in jail.
All the creeps that irk Madea are white; all the judges and DAs are black. But Perry does score plenty of laughs in his tent dress, and the members of The View and Dr. Phil kick in as comic accomplices.
