Tyler Perry has mined a lot of comic gold from his sassy Madea character, but he seems to be coming to the end of the line with Madea’s Witness Protection. Even with a top-flight cast of comic improvisers, this latest in his long-running Madea series just isn’t very funny and is predictable enough to make its almost two-hour running time close to unendurable. There are some scattered laughs, but everything seems just a bit tired and stale now.
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection (Blu-ray)
Directed by Tyler Perry
Studio: Lionsgate
Year: 2012
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 115 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: SDH. Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Review Date: October 29, 2012
The Film
2.5/5
When good guy nebbish George Needleman (Eugene Levy) realizes that he’s been made the fall guy in a Ponzi scheme that will lose many millions of dollars for charities who had instilled their faith in his investment prowess, he practically falls apart. The FBI department headed by Brian (Tyler Perry) is willing to work with him to see if they can’t find some of the hidden funds the charlatans have scattered across multiple untraceable accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland, but the most important first step is getting the Needleman family out of the gun sights of the Malone crime syndicate who is behind the theft ring. Brian brings George, his wife Kate (Denise Richards), his increasingly senile mother Barbara (Doris Roberts) and his two children (Danielle Campbell, Devan Leos) to stay with his Aunt Madea and Uncle Joe (both played by Tyler Perry). Never having had white people in her house before, Madea must make lots of adjustments in order to tolerate the dysfunctional Needlemans occupying the same space as she does.
Tyler Perry’s story is essentially a tired sitcom based on the premise of the sassy but plain spoken Madea straightening out all of the family’s problems with her take-no-prisoners attitude and trash-talking approach to discipline. There’s no doubt that the Needleman’s ship both professionally and personally will be righted before the end of the film, and there is never a real threat from the Malone crime family present in the movie despite their being mentioned on several occasions or from repercussions from the all-black Atlanta neighborhood where the white folks are being housed. Thus, with very little outside conflict, the viewer turns inward to the problems within Madea’s four walls as she solves recalcitrant children’s disrespect with a cold water dousing and a few moments of plain talk with frazzled wife Kate which helps her grow a backbone. It’s obvious Perry, Eugene Levy, and Doris Roberts are improvising like mad to bring something funny for the cameras to capture, but most of the jabber and awkward body language doesn’t really touch the funny bone or the heart. The best sequences occur when Madea and George take it upon themselves to find the stolen money leading to Madea’s funny encounter with airport security and her impersonation of a woman trying to draw money from her account in a New York City bank which draws a great deal of inspiration from Whoopi Goldberg’s Oscar-winning performance in Ghost.
To his credit, Perry does play three distinct individuals in the film, and while none are comically inspired, the uncle and aunt incarnations do get occasional laughs. Eugene Levy is more morose than marvelous as the hoodwinked George. Denise Richards as his trophy wife is adequate though a moment where she tries to mimic Madea is borderline embarrassing. Doris Roberts does not follow the expected route with her clichéd senile character making her more endearing and less irritating. In small roles, John Amos as the local pastor and Marla Gibbs as a nosy neighbor make welcome appearances. Romeo Miller tends to go overboard a bit as Amos’ son who has lost all of his church’s money in the Ponzi scheme.
Video Quality
5/5
The film has been framed for home video at 1.78:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. There are really no negatives on hand with this sparkling transfer with a superbly sharp picture offering details in facial features, hair, clothes, and props and excellent contrast consistently applied. Color is rich without ever being overly bright or heavy. Flesh tones appear natural at all times. Black levels are rich with excellent shadow detail. The film has been divided into 16 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is rather superficial and limited. Though dialogue has been well recorded and has been placed in the center channel, the remaining sound elements get rather mediocre attention. There is some spread of the Aaron Zigman music score through the fronts and rears (a sojourn into a church service with the gospel choir at full throttle is the transfer’s best moment), but the ambient effects get only a stereo treatment across the fronts, and the New York City scenes are especially lackluster making little use of the entire soundfield.
Special Features
3/5
There are five relatively brief EPK featurettes. All are presented in 1080p:
“Tyler Perry: Multi Hats and Costumes” has the cast members of the film expressing their admiration for the leading actor’s ability to switch personas so quickly in this 6-minute piece.
“Thank You, Hellur: Impersonating Madea” allows the cast to talk about their delight in the character of Madea and especially in her unusual Georgia accent. This runs 3 ¼ minutes.
“The Needlemans” gives 5 minutes to Eugene Levy, Denise Ricahrds, Doris Roberts, and Danielle Campbell to talk about their characters in the film.
“Madea’s Fun House” is a 4-minute peep behind-the-scenes during production as some gaffes are made or different ideas are attempted.
“Madea’s Comedy Icons” allows Tyler Perry to pay tribute to John Amos, Eugene Levy, Doris Roberts, and Marla Gibbs: four comic actors he grew up admiring. And each of the four express their joy about performing with one another in the film in this 6 ¼-minute featurette.
There are promo trailers for Good Deeds and Aunt Bea’s Place.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection has some sporadic laughs, but the talented comic cast doesn’t exploit the situation for its maximum comedy quotient. It’s a bit of a disappointment even with a terrific video transfer.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
