Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection

The film is slapdash entertainment not meant to be further contemplated after leaving the theatre.

George's son asks for Wi-Fi, and Madea says, ''Sure, I can make you a waffle.'' That's one of the good jokes.

He's still a young guy, but all throughout Witness Protection I imagined Perry sitting glumly at a dressing-room mirror, like the aging Chaplin in Limelight, forlornly rubbing makeup in his face -- a tired, old clown stuck in a tired, old routine.

The writer-director-star still hasn't learned to smoothly blend broad comedy and family-values sermonizing.

Reviewing a Tyler Perry movie is a bit like reviewing the weather report.

Pretty much the entire film is played for laughs here.

It's a big mess of a film, but it isn't totally a wash because Madea the character is good enough to milk a few laughs here and there.

The acting talent in this film is minimal. Forced dialogue and frequent lame jokes weigh down this Madea film, making the nearly two-hour feature unbearably long.

Unambitious and evaporates almost as rapidly as it plays out, but at least it knows what it is and only has one aim: to divert viewers for two hours.