MOVIE - BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE - $$$$$ $ (OUT OF 10)

STARRING - Steve Martin (Peter Sanderson), Queen Latifah (Charlene), Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright (Mrs. Arness), Jean Smart, Kimberly J. Brown, Angus T. Jones & Betty White.

DIRECTOR - Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner, A Walk to Remember)

A comedy about a female African-American ex-convict helping an uptight white tax lawyer get his groove back.

Movie comedies, more often than not overlooked and unappreciated when it comes to handing out golden statuettes, are actually hard to do well. Portions of Bringing Down The House are double over in pain from laughing too hard funny and there are other portions that are just painful.

Steve Martin's performance is the source of many of the funniest moments in Bringing Down The House. Good comedy has 3 components: 1) funny material, 2) timing and 3) physical antics/expressions. Martin has always possessed all three of these attributes in spades and he uses his talent to great effect here. Queen Latifah, demonstrating her range as an actress, is the perfect foil for Martin's antics and steals the occasional scene in the process.

Some of the jokes in Bringing Down The House are so funny that despite being repeatedly featured in the previews, for the film, the audience I watched the movie with still laughed heartily when the zingers were delivered.

The painful moments in Bringing Down The House have two sources. The first is the story itself. Charlene (Queen Latifah) has been framed for a crime she didn't commit. The final resolution of this part of the story, even by movie comedy standards, turns into the equivalent of a bad chase scene and is both unbelievable and tedious.

The other source of pain in the movie derives from how low it stoops, at times, to get a laugh. Bringing Down The House resurrects some of the most vile forms of racist attitudes towards and stereotypes of African-Americans. You could argue that in the process it makes white people look bad except for the fact that Bringing Down The House fails to make this point. Sanderson's (Martin) ultimate liberation is totally dependent on the largess of a vehemently racist heiress. Her new found enlightenment, if it could be called that, is dependent upon two brothers getting her stoned. With the possible exception of Charlene there is not one positive African-American role model in the film. Its a shame that this otherwise funny movie is littered with jokes that are not only crass but in extremely poor taste.

Bringing Down The House will make you laugh and cringe at the same time.

Running time - 105 minutes

Alternative Reviews:

Roger Ebert's Review

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

Bringing Down The House Official Website

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