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BRINGING
DOWN THE HOUSE Rating:   Director: Adam Shankman Producers: Ashok Amritaj, David Hoberman Writer: Jason Filardi Director of Photography: Julio Macat Cast: Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Jean Smart Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Review by: Dan
Tester
3/9/03
It's always strange when you are able to walk away from a movie and pinpoint the exact scene that was surely the key to its entire existence. What I mean is, not much of what you have just seen seemed particularly inspired or necessary, but there it was anyway, and surely there must have been some reason for it. In the case of Bringing Down The House, I am quite confident that I can explain this mysterious impetus in one statement: Steve Martin gets to dance like Bulworth in a hip-hop bar. I can't imagine Steve Martin read this script and thought it was anything but beneath him, until he got to the moment late in the script where his character inexplicably gets to shake his groove thing in a completely out of the blue and stupid scene. "That scene sounds fun to do," Steve may have said, and then followed quickly with "and we'll just have to try to make the other stuff surrounding it at least enjoyable." Well, while not completely enjoyable overall, Bringing Down The House is certainly mindlessly tolerable, and on that level works well enough, despite this aforementioned "payoff" late in the film that is anything but.
Steve Martin plays Peter Sanderson, a tax lawyer who has recently split with his wife and strikes up a conversational relationship with a woman in an Internet chat room. He makes arrangements to meet for a blind date, since the picture she sent is so very attractive, and is shocked when instead of this blonde beauty appearing on his doorstep, he instead finds recent prison escapee Charlene (Queen Latifah). Charlene is looking for a lawyer to help her clear her name, and Martin is forced to oblige (don't ask, because it really isn't important -- you know the drill by now). Thus begins a 35mm "Must See TV"-style sitcom involving standard fare such as silly misunderstandings, cheap jokes, little old ladies who are horrible racists, and plot complications designed to just move things along smoothly. I kept waiting for Mr. Furley to be seen listening at a keyhole at some point to "get the wrong idea" and make a goofy face, but maybe Don Knotts has decided to move on.
Now before I go too far with the negative here, I must admit I laughed more that I expected at this movie. Not as much as I probably should have, but enough for a mild recommendation. The real revelation here to me was Queen Latifah. I haven't seen Chicago, and am not really that familiar with her previous film work, but I felt like I was watching a brand new star emerge before my very eyes. She is great, and brings such charisma and character to her role that I can see why she has become such a big star. She has a really beautiful face, with bone-structure that many actresses must envy, and she utilizes her plus-size body with such confidence and grace that she is really kind of sexy here. Eugene Levy's Howie Rosenthal thinks so too, and his stammering attempts to employ ebonics to woo her are highlights of the film as well. But it is Steve Martin who is a disappointment. He is back in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles mode (a role that is one of his very best for sure), but his character here is just so blandly written that he is very forgettable, especially when teamed with a force of nature like Queen Latifah. Betty White and Joan Plowright are tossed in as "old school racist types," who are there more for shock value than necessity, although Betty White is allowed probably the funniest line in the film (I won't ruin it, but it is when she walks in on Martin and Latifah romping on the couch.).
To be fair, I will admit that the theater I saw Bringing Down The House in was filled with inexplicably uproarious laughter from beginning to end. In particular, the goofball loner sitting directly in front of me really loved it and kept turning to his "invisible friend" to announce that "this jizzy rocks the hizzy" and such, and I can only imagine his "friend" concurred because there was never an argument. But then again, they all also laughed uproariously at the ad for Bruce Almighty, and I also heard some chuckles during the stupid "Let's All Go To The Lobby And Get Ourselves Some Treats" ad, so I may have just walked into a bizarro situation. So, if you think Friends is a hilarious and candid look at 30-something angst, and Married With Children was a hilarious and candid look at dysfunctional families, then by all means rush out to see this hilarious and candid look at racism. Don't miss it. Don't even be late. Although the box office is sure to suffer from the enthusiastic "invisible friend" contingent that is apparently showing up in droves.
But as always, it is only one man's opinion, dog.
(A Buena Vista Pictures release. Opened
in wide release on March 7, 2003.)
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