User reviews

I went and saw this last night with family and friends and really enjoyed myself. Yes, I can hear everyone moaning about "Its the same crap over and over again", which I agree is kinda true, and honestly, if you don't like the Madea movies, you might not like this one either, even though I do think this was one of the better ones (never did like "Madea goes to Jail").

Yes, Medea can get pretty tiring, after all, how many times can you see a 6ft+ man in drag? I know I had gotten tired of it pretty fast with "Big Momma's House". But there is just something about Madea that screams "homicidal maniac" and its hilarious watching "her" trying to stop from bitch slapping these people. As for the movie itself, some of the dialogue was a bit infantile and some of the acting a bit over the top (and under in some cases), but I came to watch a funny movie and not an intellectual one, so I let those slide.

As for Tyler Perry, I love most of his movies. See, I didn't saw I loved them all, cause I do agree that a lot of his story lines are becoming very similar and almost one-dimensional (although I did enjoy the last one "Good Deeds" very much).

Keep rocking Tyler!!

It's of course OK for a comedy to have a very simplistic story in it but its unforgivable when you just don't have a good comedy writer. Really, what's the point of watching a comedy when it just isn't being all that funny?

I just couldn't believe how badly written some of the comedy in this movie was. Most of the moments or pieces of dialog will get absolutely no laughs out of you, no matter how desperate the movie gets at times. The movie truly goes overboard in an attempt to still make you laugh, or at other times it's simply just going on and on. The director just didn't knew when to say cut at times, probably also because the director, Tyler Perry, himself is being on the screen a lot as well, as a whole bunch of different characters. But he clearly just ain't no Eddie Murphy!

The different story lines are either poorly connected or just connected in such an unrealistic way that it becomes ridicules. The movie even drops some story lines after a while and then picks them up again 30 minutes later, or sometimes it doesn't at all. It does the same with some of its characters. It all lets this movie feel like a real messy one at times and you are wondering multiple times throughout it what it exactly is that you are watching here.

The main premise of the movie is already a real ridicules and unlikely one to begin with. But the sad thing about it is that it's also absolutely going nowhere with it. At times I though that the movie was perhaps going to be one with some 'messages' it and the two different families would start to learn from each other and slowly but steadily grow closer to each other as well. But none of that is the case in this movie. It just mostly relies on racial stereotypes and other prejudices that just aren't being all that clever or original to watch and therefore also not all that funny.

And really, I love Eugene Levy but I just think he is better when he's not playing the lead role. He's just far better and more fun to watch in supporting roles, though it perhaps is not fair to say that purely based on his role in this movie of course. He is given some incredibly weak material to work with and the movie perhaps was at times relying far too much on his delivery. But not even a comical talent like Levy could turn some of the moments and pieces of dialog into something funny. And how are we supposed to believe he's married to Denise Richards? There is some weird casting going on in this movie but Tyler Perry foremost should not had cast himself playing 3 different characters. He just isn't a talented enough comic, so far too scenes involving him fall totally flat.

A failed attempt at a comedy.

4/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I'm a fan of Tyler Perry however I believe that he misses the opportunity to make a good movie great. In "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Family Reunion" (both good movies - I'd give them a 7 out of 10) there was an interesting sub-plot combined with humor. There was just enough drama to keep them interesting and enough humor to make them very funny. I really enjoyed Madea's character.

Since then, the focus is mostly on ridiculous humor. This includes "Witness Protection". It appears that Tyler Perry can no longer decide who he wants the character of Madea to be.Is she a woman that has made mistakes in her past, realizes it, and helps others? Well, not exactly. Instead, I'm left feeling that the character would still be pole dancing if she wasn't so fat. Additionally, the character references smoking pot as though it's acceptable and just what she, and others do. I'm disappointed in Tyler Perry.

This is an OK movie with a solid foundation on which to build. Unfortunately, the construction is weak.

I usually enjoy Perry's Madea movies, but this one was disappointing. The only scenes which were remotely funny were ones with Madea's typical banter. The scenes with Eugene Levy were simply painful to watch as he struggled to make his character's nervous frustration look funny. He failed miserably. This was just terrible casting. Even veteran actors like Doris Roberts and John Amos could not save this terrible cast and script. The script was very predictable and repetitious. There were too many cheap attempts at laughter that just did not make sense and demeaned the intelligence of the audience. For instance, two FBI officials show up (a man and a woman) and the man has a very high voice and the woman has a man's voice. Why? It was a very short scene randomly thrown in simply for a laugh, except it was not really funny. I think Tyler Perry is a very talented actor and director, but this was his worst effort yet.

I'm not going to regurgitate the premise of this movie as many others have. I will say that if you don't like TP and/or Medea, why the heck did you watch this movie. It was a typical Madea movie. Silly, OTT, nonsensical etc. But to fans of Perry, it was just plain mindless funny. We're you expecting fine theater based on classic literature? It's beginning to be obvious, based on all the reviews of all his movies that there's a significant amount of bigotry coming from TP's community. What a shame.

Denise Richards is easy on the eyes, but can't act a lick. My wife said to me three times during the film, "this movie is just awful".

Tyler Perry does an adequate portrayal of the cliché black aunt, and there are some entertaining and funny parts, but the other two main characters lay large emu eggs.

The plot becomes very predictable when the clip from a prior movie of the same genre is shown. After that, there is no suspense.

Even Tom Arnold and John Amos struggle to keep it believable.

Romeo and Doris Roberts are okay, but nothing is going to salvage this train wreck.

I must say reading some of the reviews before going to watch this movie, made watching more fun. People who put Tyler Perry down are right out of it! He is awesome and if you expected to see something like a Few good men, then you should not be allowed to comment. This movie is just insane, I love it. When I go to a movie I want to see exactly what I am going to see... This movie had it all. If I wanted to go to driving school I would expect cars and tests. If I go bowling I guess I would see special shoes 5/10 pin bowling balls and pins... What were you actually waiting to see? I love Madea, this is what I wait for in the movie, I appreciate the seriousness that is in the Madea movies, though I want to see Madea. If you never enjoyed Madea goes to jail or this movie, then you should stop watching these movies. I read the reviews, watched the trailers and yes I got exactly what I wanted to see, wish the movie was 2 hours longer. In this world, we have to find whats funny, cause everything else is pretty screwed up and after 30+ years in the forces, I am pretty sure I know what funny is! Madea gives me the type of humour I thrive on, she is so believable and cannot get enough of her. Thank-you, Jim.....

After reading the other user reviews here on IMDb, I had low expectations walking into the theater today.... Did we watch the same movie?!

The movie starts out slow and beats a few jokes to death with excessive sarcasm and a convoluted concocted storyline. Definitely a film directed towards a non-white audience; it busted on all the white stereotypes, particularly the 'greedy wall street banker' and 'obliviously ignorant racist' ones. In a theater of 75 people, I was the only white person - awesome! I have no problem laughing at myself and knew it was going to be a fun movie with an interactive audience - and I was not disappointed :-)

With the previous Madea movies, the story tends to be more of a romance/drama, with Madea thrown in for some comic relief and wisdom. I was pleased to see that this was intended to be a straight-up comedy. Some parts of the movie flow more smoothly than others, the jokes are nothing new, and the story line is nothing ground-breaking, but it succeeds in pulling off a lot of slapstick humor... ultimately a raucous comedy that the crowd was hooting, hollering and giving hearty laughter. Like most things in NYC, the people are half the fun - being the only whitey in the room made it all the more authentic :-)

If you're looking for a thought-provoking, nuanced, 'fresh' movie, this isn't it. If you're looking for some good laughs and 2 hours of entertainment, come and see it!

Stay for the outtakes at the end credits - they are some of the funniest scenes :-)

I saw this movie at my wife's urging and against my better judgement, because she say's the Madea movies are so funny.In my opinion Tyler Perry is not funny and I find it hard to believe people wait for his movies to come out, but I guess in the mindless wandering society there is a market for this trash.Quit giving the studio's and the actor's your hard earned money, spend it it on Ice age or Madagascar something that is truly worth the money and funny. I worry about what humankind is coming to when we find this type of entertainment, entertaining? I admit I have not seen all his Madeas movies to be an expert, but after this one sure glad I never wasted any more money.

I have seen all of Tyler's movies and this for sure this is the WORSE! From the first 5 minutes, I knew it was going to be bad. My daughter who was my movie date (17yrs old) leaned over within the first few minutes of the movie said "I have a bad feeling about this one". The acting, filming, directing and storyline were all HORRIBLE. I was hoping that it would get better, but it got worse. I decided to close my eyes and take a nap and wake up from this nightmare of a movie. But when I woke up, the movie was still going and it was just as bad at where I had left off. Please.....save your money. I walked out saying....what a waste of money and time. What a shame!!!

I was dragged to this film by a friend. I stayed optimistic as I am for every movie because he said it would be hilarious. He could not be any more wrong. Though the whole theater was rolling in laughter, I was not liking the humor. If you have seen another Madea movie, don't see this one. It is practically the same as the other movies, leaving Tyler Perry with loads of money to show for his poor creativity. When will the nightmare end that is Madea. There were some scenes in the movie that made me chuckle to myself, but only that. When I go to a comedy, I want to be rolling on the floor laughing too. This did not satisfy me and I highly recommend you do not see it.

Tyler Perry took the film industry by storm when he introduced Madea in his first film Diary of a Man Black Woman. The stories were always filled with comedy, but surrounded by an emotional story that made them so much more. Over time, the idea stayed intact, but Madea has stepped more into the forefront and they have been losing their serious side. With the latest Madea's Witness Protection it seemed to be another with more comedy than drama, but with an all-new twist taking this story outside the norm with the introduction of a white family into Madea's world.

Madea's Witness Protection follows an investment banker who is caught up in a Ponzi scheme to take the fall for the Wall Street firm he works for. In exchange for a lighter sentence he decides to work with the District Attorney's office and is put into witness protection in the home of Madea, the District Attorneys aunt. This is probably one of the weakest of all the Perry movies to date. While it's not horrible, it has almost completely lost all of the dramatic aspect that made these movies so effective. There are a few aspects for this family to grow, but it's played up more on the comedy side instead of the usually powerful drama. The cast is fine with the direction of the film, but really the only truly funny moments are that of Madea and Joe both played by Perry himself. They are the kind of characters that if you like them are really funny if you don't then the entire film falls flat. The story is fine even though the reasoning for them being there is a bit far-fetched, but if you can let that go the movie is pretty fun.

In the bigger picture you are either a Perry fan or not. If you like his films then you will enjoy this one despite the lack of the drama; if you don't then you will most likely not see it anyway. The Madea character is one that has become one of those characters that fans love and others are annoyed by. No matter what you feel of the character or these films you cannot deny Perry's ability as a filmmaker and his creativity on bringing her back to the big screen. This is probably not her last appearance, but let's hope he heads back to his roots to find the passion and drama to team up with the comedy to deliver another powerful movie like the one that started it all.

I went to see Medea with one of my friends, when we arrived the theater was empty expect for couple people.

Madea's Witness Protection story centers around Eugene's family who ratted on their company to SCC. Eugene then has to go into witness protection which is offered by Madea, because Madea lives in hood and is very protective. Eugene then has to get back all money non profit organizations lost while investing in his companies ponzi scheme.

Some of jokes in the film were hilarious like when the old man in film was being a pervert. Also when old woman says she heard "negro spirituals" coming from house. My friend was laughing like hell throughout movie because he was high out of his mind but for many that scene was uncomfortable. Therefore if your gonna watch this get in bubbly mood, or smoke some herbs.

Eugene Levy is such a gifted actor, with an ability to play confused, quirky, and lovable in a very earnest way. Here, he is subjected to the lowest common denominator of humor. I am aware that work in Hollywood now is greatly limited, and it's a "take what you can get" kind of world. I don't blame Levy for experimenting, but I can blame him for picking a film that is doomed from the start.

Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection is yet another entry in the ongoing saga of the gargantuan grandmother who talks fast and threatens violence every few minutes, Madea. The character was made famous because of Perry's many plays, before making a theatrical film in 2005 called Diary of a Mad Black Woman, based off one of those very plays. The film, seen by me not too long ago, is a very faint memory. It wasn't a wretched experience, but an inconsistent one, merging the genres of slapstick, melodrama, and spirituality in a loose and poor manner, generating nothing but a tonal cacophony of unfitting parts. Perry would then go on to do five other films focusing on this "Madea" character, along with doing other films about black families and their struggle to cope with life. I've avoided many of his films for the reason that I am not in total agreement with everything he does. He portrays women to be totally reliant on their males, and rather power-hungry and venomous when something doesn't go their way. This is greatly demonstrated in Diary of a Mad Black Women. I too believe that in order to fully enjoy his films, one must have a person like his protagonists to relate to, and I, for one, have not yet found a character I can connect with in any of his movies.

Madea's Witness Protection, his most recent picture, is an odious miscalculation in every sense. An affront to every genre of slapstick humor and rambunctious comedy that there is. Structuring itself out of corruption and heist plot odds and ends, the film centers around George Needleman (Eugene Levy) and his family, as they are forced to partake in a witness protection program and stay at good ol' Madea's house, after they discover that the company George long worked for was caught up in a Ponzi-scheme right under his nose.

Tyler Perry plays three characters in the picture; the grandmother, her brother, Joe, and Brian, who assists George in getting prepared for a possible trial. I must say that Tyler Perry seems to be the only capable actor in this picture, while everyone carries the blatantly distracting motivation of getting the money for their roles.

Another reason I'm not particularly fond of Perry films is his constant, shallow stereotyping of the black community. Madea's Witness Protection is no change of style. By incorporating a stereotypical white family, Perry has successfully generated more jokes based on race than I ever thought possible. He shorthands all of his characters, regardless of color, and gives them the shallowness neither side needs. I've said it before and I'll say it again; when it comes to black filmmakers, Perry is on the lower-end of the ladder for this exact reason.

The acting is almost unanimously wooden and careless from all its subjects. Denise Richards plays George's wife in a very vague role, poor Doris Roberts is George's mother, who is unbelievably senile, and the kids are the bratty teenage daughter and the innocent son caught in the camaraderie of their father's unfortunate mishap. And if you're going to make a film showcasing goofy white people, one must not forget to call up Tom Arnold, who is given a cameo in the picture as well.

One of the most distasteful, unfunny sequences is when the Joe character, an already unnecessary addition to a film filled with so many meaningless caricatures, is giving George an on the spot interview, asking inappropriate questions like, "what size butt he prefers?" If you giggled at that, you're obviously in the target audience for this picture.

This is my fifth one star review of the year. Not to mention, I have not given a single film that has been released this year a perfect four stars. Have I grown more cynical this year, or has the film industry hit a considerable slump? All I can say is that Madea's Witness Protection, an aggressively unfunny, miserably stale film, that is beyond ideal, sufficient length, has provided me with more hope for one of those reasons than the other.

Starring: Tyler Perry, Eugene Levy, Denise Richards, Romeo Miller, Doris Roberts, and Marla Gibbs. Directed by: Tyler Perry.

I agree that this is one of his funniest and most hilarious movie ever written by Tyler Perry. And I think I've seen all of them. I could not stop laughing and think I will be quoting that movie for the next week or so. I really don't agree with people who rate this a five or below. I enjoyed it and thought it was amazing! I really encourage people to see this movie who love to laugh unconditionally! It is a great movie! The story plot's a little shaky but nonetheless, will be added to my shelf of favorite movies! My family laughed their heads off! If you like to laugh so hard to where you have water rolling down your legs, go see this movie!

It made me laugh out loud.

There were two parts that were "been there done that".

Those scenes were not up with the times (the one part was a REALLY old reference - go see the movie and you'll understand).

I went to a matinée.

There were approx. 20 of us there.

Those around me were cracking up. One guy I thought was going to fall out of his chair a couple of times.

I'm just really tough to please! Like I said, the movie made me laugh out loud which takes a real effort (from movies anyway) to do! Worth the $9 I paid.

Tyler, what are you becoming or is this the real you? My family was so excited for the release that we went to the midnight showing. There are some really funny scenes, but there is far too much foul language and sexual innuendos for the family. There are a few issues with the casting and or writing. For one Levy is a superb actor and while he did a good job with what was written the story lined and supporting actors did not add up. Will not buy the DVD. There are others flaws with the script such as the church's involvement in the Ponzi scheme, but I care not to go into it further. Not of the quality I would hope for from Tyler Perry.

I absolutely loved this movie. Tyler Perry is brilliant and talented. I grew up in the south and have met many Madea's and can relate so well to this character. Tyler is right on the money portraying this southern black lady. This movie had me and my family in stitches. From my 8 year old son, to my 74 year old mother. It's the perfect family movie. I loved it! Tyler Perry has outdone himself with this movie. I do believe this is my favorite Madea movie so far. Keep them coming, Tyler and I'll continue to watch!! We need more movies that all the family can watch and get something out of, and this one is it. This is definitely the summer must see movie. Everyone in my house is still talking about how good it was and quoting some of Madea's lines. Bring us some more good movies.

How disappointing that people are so desperate to be entertained that they will go see Tyler Perry and Adam Sandler movies (not always for Adam) that are just plain worthless. Like numb pro sports fans who go see their horrible teams which allows the team owners to make enough money not to care if the team every actually gets good. If you stopped going to see this crap then maybe Tyler would get the hint and get some serious opinions and help from people who care about making interesting, entertaining movies that are worth watching more than once. Actually I can't make it 5 minutes into his crappy movies and 1 minute into his television shows which are the worst shows in history!! At least Sandler made some very funny movies and played a few serious roles to give him some credibility. Lately, though, Adam has just plain stunk and worked for profit and apparently could not care less for his fans, except the morons who go despite horrible reviews. Please stop giving these two any more of your hard earned money and force them out of the business or into making better choices for scripts and directors.

This film re-affirms Sturgeon's Law, which says 90% of music, books and films are c.r.a.p. Only about 2 scenes and 7 lines in this film had any shred of originality. Most of the film relies on silly Jerry Lewis-type comedy targeted at an audience who'll laugh at anything which goes splat, most of which has been used over and over again in forgettable films since the 1930's. Tyler Perry has had success with possibly the most over-the-top, ridiculous, pompous and irritating character in recent memory, named simply Madea. And the bad part is she been and probably will return in many films. In previous offerings, she was Grandma Madea. In this film she is Auntie Madea.

Madea is a cross between Aunt Esther (the over-the-top bible-thumping matriarch from the 1970's television show "Sanford and Son") and Mama of "Mama's Family" of the 1980's, all encompassed within a body which would give football line backer Lawrence Taylor a run for his money. She has a behind which fits into dresses like a medicine ball being forced into jockey shorts and breasts which probably need multiple area codes. She overtakes the rest of the cast not just in height and build but in her endless need to spew out relentless cliché dribble, speaking every single thought in her head no matter how offensive or ridiculous. The only aspects of Madea I found I could tolerate was when she left her scenes. It was like "thank God". Her vocabulary is limited, with the words "sugar", "honey", and "ass" being repeated over and over again.

But Madea is not the only problem with the whole experience. The CFO's wife looks like she just graduated from High School, looking a lot like the older sister of his daughter. Was this supposed to be funny? It was just stupid and verging on offensive. His mother who lives with them is not playing with a full deck. As Madea puts it, "the store's open but nobody's shopping." The other children seem like characters who didn't make the final cut of the Brady Bunch.

The plot, obviously contrived to enable some means to put Madea into the "story", involves a middle-aged CFO of the charity/foundation part of a mob-backed corporation which has been running a ponzi scheme. He arrives at the office where everybody is shredding everything in site. If they were trying to force computer screens into shredding machines, it wouldn't have been any more crazy. He finds out he was hired as the fall guy for the corporation which will be the center-piece of an upcoming PBS Frontline. He puts himself at the mercy of government investigators who decide to put him and his family into a safe-house while the trial is underway, fearing that this will be the best protection.

Of course, the investigator has his aunt put up the white family in, you guessed it, the home of the Mad Black Woman: Madea. The main thrust of the comedy involves the white family possibly from Upstate New York or New England being in the same sphere of the Mad Black Woman from the South. Every scene and every confrontation was predictable and totally contrived from the first. She spews out line after line of cliché tripe, most of which is so predictable and vulgar that it wasn't even remotely entertaining. It's just unbearable. And the problem is, we know what she's going to say. For example, she doesn't like the white folks sleeping late: "You better get the hell up or when I come back up in here you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna taste the rainbow." or "If I come back up these stairs and you still in this bed I'm gonna get completely naked and get up in there with you and spoon." Now that has to be the most horrible threat of the entire movie. I would prefer being accosted by Charles Manson than seeing Madea without any clothes. The only sequence I found remotely entertaining involved Medea's brother Joe and the implication that he and the white CFO might be related. He asks questions and finds they have more in common than they might realize.

This movie is essentially a series of bad Saturday Night Live sketches all involving the character Madea. Inside the film, was a better one which could have been much more interesting. One character is the son of a preacher who has lost their church's money which he invested into the ponzi scheme. That had great potential and still could have been funny to see how he could get back the money. But unfortunately, the movie is all about Made, and the whole idea never takes itself seriously. Madea's bad clothes, her bad lines, her bad demeanor. And if you don't find Madea funny, it's gonna be your-know-what. I think Tyler Perry has a modicum of talent, but he isn't going to win any acclaim with this drivel.