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Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection

TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S WITNESS PROTECTION (Tyler Perry). 114 minutes. Opens Friday (June 29). See listings. Rating: NN


Tyler Perry, the thrifty writer/director/producer/star, is a lucrative brand all to himself, known for catering to middle-class black audiences by playing over-the-top melodrama against juvenile comedy.

However, Perry hasn’t been the same of late. His last movie, Good Deeds, was a poor attempt at highbrow drama with absolutely no comedy. And Madea’s Witness Protection ditches the Kleenex and sets out to be the kind of comedy Martin Lawrence used to make (Big Momma’s House, anyone?).

Perry dons the fat suit and muumuu once again as Madea, his mammy caricature, a once reliable source of outrageous laughs who now seems neutered. Madea offers her humble home to Eugene Levy’s George Needleman, a CFO-turned-witness in need of protection. George comes complete with a family of white people problems, including an undersexed wife (Denise Richards). That plot sounds ripe for hilarity, but Perry only delivers a few mild chuckles.

You can’t help but assume that he’s targeting a wider (read whiter) audience by casting Levy and Richards and focusing the plot on their characters.

Unfortunately, Perry doesn’t have as firm a grasp on that world. Meanwhile, he’s forgetting to serve the audience that made him rich. I’m not saying his previous movies were good. All I’m saying is they were never this bland.

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