"Everything he needed to know about life, she learned in prison."

Bringing Down the House (2003): 7/10

Poster art from impawards.com
In Adam Shankman’s new comedy Bringing Down the House that is stereotyped but still funny, Steve Martin is Peter Sanderson, a divorced tax attorney. He’s wealthy, but never can keep promises to his kids George and Sarah (Angus T. Jones, The Rookie, Kimberly J. Brown, A Bug’s Life). They live with his ex-wife Kate (Jean Smart), but visit him occasionally. Peter’s called upon to work on the will and estates of Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright), along with her dog William Shakespeare. He works with Howie (Eugene Levy), who is about to become smitten with Charlene.

Charlene is an internet buddy of Peter’s, and they soon arrange a date. Instead of a young, blond reporter, he gets a giant, busty black felon played by Queen Latifah. As you could guess, things don’t work out in the beginning, and she wrecks havoc on his suburban, SUV, white bread life.

I laughed a good deal, mainly during the second half, but I felt like they tried too hard to HAVE stereotypes. Charlene is a jive-talking girl, uses and omits wrong words, etc. On the other hand, Peter’s neighbor, and his boss’s mother Mrs. Kline (Betty White) is racist, who gets upset when she “hears Negro” over at Peter’s house. I’m not saying it isn’t funny, but it is racist. I thought that Levy was quite good, although it did seem like it wasn’t coming naturally to him. In the theater, everyone cracked up at the line, “You’ve got me straight trippin’, boo,” a line that has been used multiple times in the commercials, and wasn’t funny then, and isn’t funny now. I think that audiences these days laugh when they think they need to laugh. They need to be spoon-fed, etc., but I digress.

An interesting note: Charlene’s last name in this movie is Morton, which was also her last name in Chicago. I thought she did great, but I don’t really see how she can move from an independent studio blockbuster to a racist comedy (but then again, Catherine Zeta-Jones did move from The Phantom to Chicago). Of course, things get more and more implausible as the movie progresses, but it’s a pleasant and funny diverter, so you won’t notice.

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor, and drug material.

Review Date: March 22, 2003