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I confess I expected Steve Martin and Queen Latifah to fall in love in "Bringing Down the House." That they avoid it violates all the laws of economical screenplay construction, since they are constantly thrown together, they go from hate to affection, and they get drunk together one night and tear up the living room together, which in movies of this kind is usually the closer.

But, no, all they fall into is Newfound Respect, which, in a world of high-performance star vehicles, is the mini-van. Eugene Levy is brought off the bench to console the Queen, and Martin ends up back with his divorced wife ( Jean Smart ), who exists only so that he can go back to her. These two couples had better never double date, because under the table Queen and Steve are going to have their socks up each other's pants.

Why, I asked myself, is their mutual sexual attraction disguised as roughhouse, when they are the stars and movie convention demands that they get it on? There isn't a shred of chemistry between Latifah and Levy (who likes the Queen's wildness and is infatuated with her cleavage, which is understandable but shallow--his infatuation, not her cleavage). I think it's because the movie, co-produced by Latifah, was Making a Point, which is that the Rich White Lawyer had better learn to Accept this Bitch on Her Own Terms instead of Merely Caving in to Her Sex Appeal. This may be a point worth making, but not in a comedy.

I use the word "bitch" after some hesitation, to make a point: The movie is all about different ethnic styles of speech. It uses the B-word constantly (along, of course, with lots of "hos"), and I argue that since the MPAA rates the "language" PG-13, I can use it in a review. You kids under 13 who are reading this better be getting parental guidance from a POS.

Emergency definition: POS (n., slang). Abbreviation used in teenage chat rooms, warning person at other end: "Parent over shoulder!" Martin plays Peter Sanderson, a high-powered lawyer with a trophy ex-wife, who lives in a posh Los Angeles neighborhood and speaks with meticulous precision he elevates to a kind of verbal constipation. Queen Latifah plays Charlene Morton, who he meets in an Internet chat room, where she is LawyerGirl.

They both misrepresent their appearances--well, all right, she's guiltier than he is--and when they meet he's appalled to find, not a blond legal bimbo, but a trash-talking black ex-con who wants him to handle her case. Charlene can talk like a perfect middle-class lady, as she demonstrates, but the movie's point of pride is that she shouldn't have to. Peter can also talk like a black street dude, sort of. Maybe he learned it from his kids' rap records.

The movie's conceit is that Peter keeps throwing Charlene out and she keeps coming back, because she's determined to prove her legal innocence. She breaks into his house, throws wild parties, embarrasses him at his club, and so on, until a magic night when she gets him drinking and dancing, plants his hands squarely on what Russ Meyer used to rhapsodically refer to as garbanzos, and breaks down his inhibitions. At this point--what? Wild nuzzling, rapturous caresses, shredded knickers, wild goat cries in the night? Peter takes her case, that's what, while Eugene Levy crawls out of his eyebrows and joins the tag-team.

This is all wrong. It violates the immortal Stewart/Reagan principle: Steve Martin for Latifah, Eugene Levy for best friend. A comedy is not allowed to end with the couples incorrectly paired. It goes against the deeply traditional requirements of the audience. Here is a movie that ignores the Model Airplane Rule: First, make sure you have taken all of the pieces out of the box, then line them up in the order in which they will be needed. "Bringing Down the House" is glued together with one of the wings treated like a piece of tail.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Bringing Down the House (2003)

Rated PG-13 For Language, Sexual Humor and Drug Material

105 minutes

Steve Martin as Peter Sanderson

Queen Latifah as Charlene Morton

Eugene Levy as Howie Rosenthal

Joan Plowright as Mrs. Arness

Jean Smart as Kate

Kimberly J. Brown as Sarah Sanderson

Angus T. Jones as Georgey Sanderson

Directed by

• Adam Shankman
• Jason Filardi

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Bringing down the house, common sense media reviewers.

Martin and Latifah rule in boundary-pushing PG-13.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

None Mild scariness and peril, mostly comic

Strong sexual references for a PG-13

Strong language for a PG-13

A lot of drinking, drug humor, references to drug

Parents need to know that this movie has some very strong material for a PG-13, including explicit sexual references and a graphic apparent sexual situation, very strong language, a lot of drinking, and drug humor (it's supposed to be very funny that a very dignified elderly lady gets stoned on marijuana). A young…

Violence & Scariness

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A lot of drinking, drug humor, references to drug use

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie has some very strong material for a PG-13, including explicit sexual references and a graphic apparent sexual situation, very strong language, a lot of drinking, and drug humor (it's supposed to be very funny that a very dignified elderly lady gets stoned on marijuana). A young teenage girl sneaks out with a boy and finds it more than she can handle when he takes her to a party where people are drinking and doing drugs and he tries to force her to have sex. It is supposed to be funny that Peter's son reads a dirty magazine (that belongs to Peter) and that Peter's sister-in-law is essentially a paid girlfriend for very elderly rich men. Some people may be offended by some of the racist language and stereotypes, but the movie is clear that it is offensive and stupid to be bigoted and cowardly and foolish to be silent when those views are expressed. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, Steve Martin plays Peter, a lawyer who works too hard. He is separated from his wife and cancels a long-planned vacation with his children because he is under a lot of pressure to land a wealthy and very proper new client (Joan Plowright). He meets a woman on the internet and makes a date with her, thinking she is a pretty blonde lawyer. But it turns out to be Charlene (Queen Latifah), a convicted felon who wants him to help her clear her record. She not only knows how to torture him into helping her -- she enjoys it. And while he is fuming on the outside, it is clear that at some level, he is enjoying it, too.

Is It Any Good?

This is Steve Martin's best film in years. The character and situations are made for him. Queen Latifah is sensational -- warm, funny, and sexy and utterly charming. The script loses its way several times, particularly with a tasteless plot line about Peter's racist society party girl of a sister-in-law. But that doesn't matter much since most of the plot makes no sense at all. But this is still a better-than-average comedy that works very well much of the time. Queen Latifah's wonderfully radiant star quality, Steve Martin's comic grace and Eugene Levy's masterful turn as Peter's besotted partner do bring down the house.

This movie falls squarely in what I call the "Cat in the Hat" genre, in which a straight-laced person (A) who plays by the rules has his or her life turned upside down by someone (B) who represents uncertainty, vitality, and taking risks. After A complains about how B is irresponsible and how B is messing everything up, there is always a scene in which A tells B, "I learned/got so much more from you than you ever did from me! This is the best day of my life!"

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Charlene's advice to Peter on how to communicate with his teenage daughter. They should also talk about how the adults in their family try to maintain a balance between work and family and how to best communicate to family members that they are the top priority.

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 7, 2003
• On DVD or streaming : August 5, 2003
• Cast : Eugene Levy , Queen Latifah , Steve Martin
• Director : Adam Shankman
• Inclusion Information : Gay directors, Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Touchstone Pictures
• Genre : Comedy
• Run time : 105 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : language, sexual humor and drug material
• Last updated : February 12, 2024

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Bringing Down the House

Two game stars are forced to carry the lien on their backs in "Bringing Down the House," a black-collides-with-white culture comedy that could have been a lot wilder and crazier than it is. With Steve Martin and Queen Latifah both enormously at home in their respective roles, there are certainly good laughs to be had.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

• Remember Me 14 years ago
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Two game stars are forced to carry the lien on their backs in “Bringing Down the House,” a black-collides-with-white culture comedy that could have been a lot wilder and crazier than it is. With Steve Martin and Queen Latifah both enormously at home in their respective roles as a straight-laced corporate attorney and a brassy ex-con who upends his rigid lifestyle, there are certainly good laughs to be had. But the contrived script and bland direction prevent the film from ever developing a comic life of its own, leaving what fun there is seeming like the foundation to a rumpus room that’s never finished. Commercially, Disney should have little trouble promoting the picture as an almost ideal crossover comedy, as mainstream auds on both sides of the racial aisle will be amused with the up-front way stereotypes are broached. Following nationwide sneaks this weekend, biz upon general release two weeks hence should be brisk.

For many viewers, just the prospect of seeing Martin back in the sort of broad physical comedy that made his name will be enticing enough, while Latifah’s still-rising star will be given a further boost from the way her character’s antics force a pasty perfectionist to loosen up and get down.

Set-up promises rooms of potential. Having developed a friendly and mildly flirtatious online relationship with a “lawyer-girl,” eager divorcee Peter Sanderson (Martin) invites her over, only to open the door of his luxurious L.A. home to get an eyeful of Charlene Morton (Latifah), a black bombshell in blue denim cutoffs who’s been in prison but claims she’s innocent and has come to him to get her name cleared.

Completely freaked over the woman’s e-mail deception, Peter kicks her out, but she returns again, and again, and again, always at the most embarrassingly inconvenient moment. It’s a gambit that can be played a couple of times, but device’s frequency digs a hole for the film by making Charlene’s rudeness almost as annoying to the audience as it is to Peter. And it raises the question of why Peter doesn’t quickly agree to meet her at a convenient time and place and quickly finish their business once and for all.

But then, of course, there wouldn’t be a movie, so Charlene pulls one stunt after another –surprising him with a raucous house party at his Hancock Park manse, crashing his lily-white country club just before an all-important meeting with a billionairess prospective client (Joan Plowright), and disrupting his proper law office. Finally, Peter breaks down and takes the imperturbable interloper out to a dinner-and-dance club, where his ex, Kate (Jean Smart) just happens to be dining with her witch of a sister, Ashley (Missi Pyle), who earlier squared off in a brutal catfight with Charlene.

Duo’s “date” leads to pic’s comic highlight: When they get home, raunchy Charlene challenges an enthusiastic Peter to rediscover his long-lost cojones and become king of the jungle. Sequence brings out the best in both performers, as Latifah really shakes it, taunting the uptight lawyer, demanding that he grab her mountainous breasts (which he does) and do what a man’s supposed to do, while Martin gets very silly and funny with some down, and somewhat dirty, slapstick. The two work so well together one wishes first-time screenwriter Jason Filardi’s material possessed a level of inspiration worthy of the two performers.

After bothering Peter so much in the first half and getting him in hot water at work, second half has Charlene proving her worth by using her street smarts to help Peter’s teenage daughter out of a jam, and Peter proving himself to Charlene by finding his inner homeboy. Latter is accomplished in an over-the-top climactic scene in which Peter, clad in ghetto gear, invades a shady downtown club, adopts street talk (taught to him by guess who), does some goofy dance-floor gyrations and confronts the gangsta for whose crime Charlene did the time.

Filardi’s script could have used considerably more smarts about the building and sustaining of farce. Also missing are the sorts of comedic rhythms that take amusement to the realm of hilarity; the numerous very short scenes, especially toward the film’s middle, allow no time for humor to mount. Direction by Adam Shankman (“The Wedding Planner”) could not be more conventional, with production values following suit.

Eugene Levy scores with one-note second banana shtick as Peter’s attorney buddy whose attentions to the awesome “Congo goddess” are so unstintingly perverse that Charlene repeatedly rewards him with the sobriquet, “freak.” Plowright almost seems to be auditioning for any queenly role Judi Dench might not want as she strides imperiously through her role of a Southern girl-turned-British aristocrat who riles Charlene by sentimentally singing “Is Massuh Gonna Sell Me Tomorrow?” at the dinner table, but finally unwinds with the help of some ganja at a hip hop club.

Ultimately, “Bringing Down the House” might most be remembered, at least in the short term, for the joke (prominently featured in the trailer) in which Peter’s little boy, having been shown a dirty magazine by “babysitter” Charlene, asks, “Daddy, what’s a rack?” “It’s a country,” Pop testily replies.

• Production: A Buena Vista release of a Touchstone Pictures presentation in association with Hyde Park Entertainment of a David Hoberman/Ashok Amritraj production. Produced by Hoberman, Amritraj. Executive producers, Jane Bartelme, Queen Latifah. Coproducer, Todd Lieberman. Directed by Adam Shankman. Screenplay, Jason Filardi.
• Crew: Camera (Technicolor, Panavision widescreen), Julio Macat; editor, Jerry Greenberg; music, Lalo Schifrin; music supervisor, Michael McQuarn; production designer, Linda DeScenna; art director, Jim Nedza; set designers, Nancy Deren, Rich Romig; set decorator, Ric McElvin; costume designer, Pamela Withers-Chilton; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS), David MacMillan; supervising sound editor, David Whittaker; choreographer, Anne Fletcher; associate producer, Cookie Carosella; assistant director, Daniel Silverberg; second unit director, John Medlen; second unit camera, Johnny Jensen; casting, Victoria Thomas. Reviewed at the Avco Cinema L.A., Feb. 19, 2003. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 105 MIN.
• With: Peter Sanderson - Steve Martin Charlene Morton - Queen Latifah Howie Rottman - Eugene Levy Mrs. Arness - Joan Plowright Kate - Jean Smart Ashley - Missi Pyle Sarah Sanderson - Kimberly J. Brown Widow - Steve Harris Georgey Sanderson - Angus T. Jones Todd Gendler - Michael Rosenbaum Mrs. Kline - Betty White

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Bringing Down the House

Bringing Down the House is the most apologetically racist film I've seen in years. Better comedies, like last year's raucous Undercover Brother take racial stereotypes as fodder to find humor in celebrating and poking fun at the differences between us. Bringing Down the House has no such lofty ambition. Rather it fills itself to the brim with a culture of racist clowns. In the world of Bringing Down the House , white people are all half-witted bigots and racism is something we all should just learn to accept.

Representing the honkey contingent, is Steve Martin . On the fast track to Eddie Murphy sized failure, Martin plays a lonely, rich, attorney/divorcee who finds love on the Internet. When at last he and his Internet sweetie meet, he discovers he's been duped. Charlene ( Queen Latifah ) is not the bombshell blonde lawyer she sold herself as, instead she's a full-figured, ex-con black woman with ten tons of attitude and a whole lot of persistence. I think the trailer phrased it "She's not his soul mate... she's a soul sista!" I may have that wrong, I get nauseous and dizzy every time I see that promo.

Martin's character tries to throw Charlene out on her ample behind, but Charlene needs free legal help and thus cannot be swayed. She blackmails and tortures him into getting what she wants, all the while feeding his WASP lifestyle by playing the fool around all the racist, elitist white folk. There are attempts at humor, all at the expense of intelligence and sanity. Eugene Levy steps in to try and break the bigot mold, throwing himself at Charlene's feet, perhaps a symptom of some sort of white guilt. The material in this movie is every bit as tired as Steve Martin's sadly static delivery. Repeating every tired old gag he's probably done a hundred times before, Martin is simply going through the motions in a hopelessly bad movie on the last shreds of autopilot.

It is honestly a pity that a movie like this ever gets made; even more so when you consider that millions of people will see it without ever giving a second thought to what a movie like this really says. Twenty years ago it was funny to see white people trying to act black. Heck, Steve Martin himself was doing it back then only in GOOD movies where he was trying to say something relevant while knocking your socks off with laughs. But decades later, a cast this talented ought to be able to come up with something less hack. Instead, what they've made is a movie about bigots that gives racism a pass and pushes the notion that racial intolerance is just an accepted and natural part of every day life.

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Bringing Down The House Review

30 May 2003

105 minutes

Bringing Down The House

The $100 million-plus Stateside success of this odd couple pairing says a lot about downcast US audiences' thirst for irreverent comedy. But, even given the mood of the moment, why embrace a formulaic comedy whose principle humour revolves around offensive racial stereotypes? This debilitating and uncomfortable element detracts from the sparky chemistry between Martin - surely the comedic epitome of 'uptight whitey' - and Latifah, who effortlessly casts an air of cool.

Following her bravado turn in Chicago, it's strange that the currently hot Latifah's first lead role sees her undergo such humiliation. Worse, as executive producer, she approved it! As sassy, confident jailbird Charlene, she is treated as a vulgar, monstrous presence by the array of bigoted whites. Her boisterous entrance is punctured when Peter's elderly neighbour saunters out, broom in hand, saying "I thought I heard a Negro". In the film's most excruciating sequence, Charlene poses as Peter's house maid as he entertains heiress client Mrs. Arness (Plowright), who sings the slave song Ol' Massa Gonna Sell Me Tomorrow - which will only ever provoke nervous laughter, if any.

Thank God, then, for Eugene Levy as Peter's buddy, Howie, whose lust for Charlene provides the film's best comedy, as he woos her with such ethnic come-ons as, "Swing it, cocoa goddess," and, "You got me straight-trippin', boo." As for Martin, it's a welcome return to full-on physical comedy, yet he's merely combining the unwanted house-guest schtick of 1992's Housesitter with, in a sequence which sees him infiltrate a hip-hop club dressed in full homeboy regalia, the white-acting-black humour of The Jerk.

Screenwriter Filardi must shoulder much of the blame, with a script that handles racial issues with none of the satirical assurance of Bulworth, retreating into baseless caricatures and a bottom line of, 'Hey, racial intolerance is part of life!' An unnecessary sequel beckons, but hopefully without Martin teaching Latifah how to mow a lawn and paint a white picket fence.

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Movies | 11 03 2003

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Bringing Down the House

Details: 2003, USA, Cert 12A, 105 mins

Direction: Adam Shankman

Genre: Comedy

Summary: When a lonely guy (Martin) meets a woman (Latifah) on the Internet who happens to be in prison, she breaks out to be with him, and proceeds to wreak havok on his middle-class life.

With: Eugene Levy ,  Queen Latifah and Steve Martin

Peter Bradshaw

Peter Bradshaw: Lumberingly crass comedy which has nevertheless done massive business in the United States

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Bringing Down the House

By: debbie lynn elias

Opening March 7, 2003 in theaters everywhere, the joint will be jumpin’ and the roof a rockin’ with “Bringing Down the House.” Starring the unlikely combination of Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, you’ll find yourself rolling in the aisles at the antics of these two. Described as a “divorced, straight-laced, uptight attorney” (hey, most of them are – either that or of an ilk that warrants words we can’t print here), Peter Sanderson still loves his ex-wife and for the life of him can’t figure out what she would ever leave him. (He’s an attorney – need he more of an answer than that?!) Despite being consumed with this inner turmoil, loneliness and no one in his life except his children, Peter decides to move on. That’s right. Move on, date, find another Mrs. Right. And he’s doing it over the Internet! While chatting around, he becomes enamored with “lawyer girl” (sight unseen, of course) whom he believes is blonde, thin, bright and beautiful and probably the next Mrs. Sanderson. Unfortunately, that opinion changes – for the worse – when one Charlene Morton shows up at the door. Anything but the refined, elegant woman Peter imagined, Charlene is black, bold, brash, buxom, urban, uneducated AND a convicted felon who wants Peter to help clear her name and expunge her record. (Naturally, she’s innocent….aren’t they all!)

Needless to say, Charlene infiltrates the Peterson household like a bat out of hell, going against the grain and Peter’s very ordered – and ordinary – suburban life. From teaching his daughter how to read “sexually explicit magazines” to throwing neighborhood pool parties to palling around with Peter’s best friend Howie (who is madly in love with her) to shocking the prudish and bigoted next door neighbor who likes to sing slavery songs, Charlene turns Peter’s life upside down – and right side out – intermingling some very important life lessons about his ex-wife, his children, relationships and business, all the while having a laugh a minute. Steve Martin is at the top of his game. No one does the fatherly family comedy better than him. Just think, “Father of the Bride” and “Parenthood” and you’ll know what I mean. But the beauty of this role is that Martin seamlessly meshes this goofy fatherly frustration with the over-the-top expressiveness, vocalization and characterization that made us love him in “Saturday Night Live” and achieves absolute perfection. This is never more obvious than his ghetto impression in an African-American nightclub. Tears will be streaming down your cheeks when you see this one.

But the real talent here is Queen Latifah who, hot on the heels of her Oscar nominated performance in “Chicago”, gets a change to showcase her vast comedic skills which are only enhanced thanks to her chemistry with Martin. Genuinely charismatic and downright hilarious, the Queen is a welcome addition to the film comedy genre.

But let’s not overlook a fine supporting cast. Eugene Levy, one of the best known scene stealing supporting players in the business, is in great form, doing his best dead pan ever as Peter’s best friend Howie Rosenthal. Jean Smart, as Peter’s ex Kate, is, as always, delightfully enjoyable while Betty White as the bigoted next door neighbor Mrs. Kline is, as comes as no surprise, a riot. Even the venerable Joan Plowright as a potential billion dollar client to Peter’s law firm, with her very British “stiff upper lip” persona, seems to feed off the comedic energy here and goes for the guffaw.

Shot in beautiful tree-lined Pasadena and downtown South Central LA, Julio Macat’s cinematography is critical to the film’s overall style, balance and contrast with the clash of the urban and suburban worlds of Peter and Charlene. Macat, a comedy veteran, does an admirable job here, using brighter, fuller lighting to allow the director to capture the richness of the characters emotions and actions. And it works like a charm.

Although not a particularly spectacular or technically special film, director Adam Shankman, also responsible for “The Wedding Planner,” deserves credit for knowing when to stand back and just let the actors take over. Written by newcomer, Jason Filardi, despite all the gags and inspired set-ups aplenty, the storyline itself fails coming across like a multi-part tv sitcom (without the rest of the parts), as Filardi seems to have a problem with continuity and follow through – a shortcoming that Shankman obviously couldn’t cure but for letting Martin and Latifah go hog wild. Were it not for them, the film would not have the momentum and at times, easy flow, and undisputable hilarity that it does.

Steve Martin and Queen Latifah? Who woulda thunk it! But kudos to that brainchild!

Steve Martin: Peter Sanderson
Queen Latifah: Charlene Morton
Eugene Levy: Howie Rosenthal
Jean Smart: Kate Sanderson
Joan Plowright: Mrs. Arness
Betty White: Mrs Kline
Directed by: Adam Shankman

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Bringing Down the House Parent Guide

A strictly conservative suit-and-tie kind of guy, Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is devoted to his work at the firm. But his employment commitment has left his family on hold one too many times.

Release date March 7, 2003

Run Time: 105 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kerry bennett.

A straight-laced suburban tax lawyer is abruptly blindsided by a former jailbird from the hood in the explosive comedy Bringing Down the House.

A strictly conservative suit-and-tie kind of guy, Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is devoted to his work at the firm. But his employment commitment has left his family on hold one too many times. Now the divorced dad is living on his own while wondering what went wrong.

Not interested in taking the case, the disappointed date shoos Charlene (Queen Latifah) out the door. But her unruly ranting in the front yard draws curious stares from his priggish neighbor (Betty White) and soon has the embarrassed attorney pulling the screaming woman back inside.

Moving into the lawyer’s perfectly run household, the boisterous offender upsets every thought of order or routine. While giving him explicit advice on improving his amatory prowess, the two adults are caught in a compromising situation that interferes with Peter’s attempt to win his wife back. Charlene also overlooks his daughter’s (Kimberly J. Brown) sneaking out schemes and employs some unconventional reading material—a pornographic magazine—to help his son (Angus T. Jones) improve his literary skills.

After showing up unannounced at his exclusive club, the street talking felon threatens to hamper Peter’s efforts to win the billion-dollar account of an elderly heiress (Joan Plowright). But despite the taxman’s frustrations with the ex-con, his law firm colleague, Howie (Eugene Levy) is unabashedly smitten with Charlene.

Relying on high energy, physical comedy that borders between offensive and funny, the film is packed with controversial jokes and racial comments. Bigotry goes unchallenged and illegal drug use, guns, and the criminal element are exclusively the property of the inner city community. While bedroom scenes are banished from the script, verbal innuendo is teamed with provocative dancing in a nightclub and a high action couch scene that makes sexual content another prevalent concern for parents.

As their two diverse worlds uncomfortably clash, Charlene goes to whatever lengths she needs to in order to get a little legal aid. Even if that means shaking the rafters in a part of town where the only noticeable ethnic groups appear to be household help or crooks.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Bringing down the house parents' guide.

From the opening scenes of this movie, misrepresentation and lying are common themes. Who lied in this film, how did it affect them and did they learn anything about being truthful?

According to a press release, Queen Latifah, who also is an executive producer on the project, acknowledges the controversial nature of this film’s comedy. What is the difference between laughing at your own cultural mores and making fun of another group’s? How did you feel about the jokes in this film?

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Steve Martin takes on the role of a parent caught up in the expensive proposition of marrying off his daughter in the film Father of the Bride . He also gets to foot the bill for a baby nursery in the sequel, Father of the Bride II .

Bringing Down The House review

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Steve Martin is the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of cinema. For years he was the comedy monster, an unstoppable farce of nature who brought us The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. But somewhere in his career, a quieter, more serious side started to emerge - one that appears in the likes of The Spanish Prisoner and LA Story. Maybe it was this schizophrenic split that caused Hyde to lose some of his manic fury and start popping up in dull comedies like Sgt Bilko and The Out-Of-Towners. Or maybe Martin just stopped being funny.

So how does Bringing Down The House fit into this dual career? Well, it lingers somewhere in the middle both in terms of humour value and tone. Martin's in near-straight-man mode as Peter Sanderson, an uptight, recently divorced upper-middle-class lawyer. Looking for love online, he meets what he thinks is a sexy blonde with a quick brain and a slinky bod. Imagine his surprise, then, when his virtual vixen turns out to be the loud and proud Charlene (Queen Latifah), a convict launching her own appeal and requiring his legal help. Naturally, Peter tries to rid himself of the intruder, running slap(stick)-bang into some of the most painfully inept physical comedy imaginable.

Inevitably, the plot also finds time to ricochet through the usual black-meets-white comic complications like a pinball hitting bumpers. CLANG! Here's the OTT racist (Betty White, in a similar shock-tactic role to her Lake Placid codger). PING! Up pop streetwise gangstas for a raucous house party at Sanderson's pad. BRRING! Underneath our different skin colours, we're all alike.

While hardly living up to its title on the laughter front, House is saved from total mediocrity courtesy of two standouts. One is the sheer charisma of star/producer Queen Latifah, whose boisterous, dynamic and, yes, sexy performance easily matches her attention-snatching turn in Chicago. The other is the always welcome presence of arch scene thief Eugene Levy. Best known as American Pie's bumbling father figure and for his inspired work with Christopher Guest (Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman), this seals his impeccable reputation. Most of his lines, be they straight from the script or those we reckon he improvised, are killers. And we're not talking small-time hoods here - we're talking professional assassins.

And then there's Martin. Okay, so his `amusing' moments are never exactly that, but let's be kind and say he's at least involved in a handful of chuckle-catching gags, most notably an off-the-cuff, on-the-couch lesson in the art of seduction.

A decent enough rom-com to kick off your weekend then, but a touch more Hyde could have made this loads more entertaining.

Fans of Steve Martin's best work won't find too much to satisfy them in this culture-clash rom-com, - unless they switch their gaze to Queen Latifah or Eugene Levy. Now that's comedy.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE

What You Need To Know:

(PaPa, Ab, LLL, VV, SS, AA, DD, MM) Pagan worldview elevating "the 3 G's" (gold, girls and glory) and many selfish, relativistic decisions are made, and woman pretends to be part of a Methodist choir and lies about getting Sanderson's charity work; 34 obscenities, one strong profanity, seven light profanities, and other rude, vulgar comments and several instances of ethnic slang; strong violence with punch-outs, cat fights, bad guys with guns, and comedic violence; offensive sexual mimicking while clothed, dirty dancing, grabbing breasts, man puts gourds in his pants and gyrates, and other sexual references; no nudity; many portrayals of alcohol use and drunkenness; smoking, marijuana use, reference to Ecstasy, and woman puts laxative into another woman's food; and, rudeness to elderly men, lying, cheating, gambling, and teenage deceit and disrespectfulness.

GENRE: Comedy

More Detail:

Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is an insecure-about-his-job, divorced lawyer who’s playing around in law chat rooms and meets a cyber-gal online. She tells him she’s blonde, but has a dark side, and sends him a photo of a gorgeous woman. Peter says that he’s a bit older and has light, boyish hair. (It’s actually gray.) They share legal advice and trivialities about their lives, and soon Peter arranges for them to meet at his home. He picks a convenient weekend when his two children are with his ex-wife (Jean Smart), polishes himself up, lights candles, prepares a romantic spread of hors d’oerves and champagne, and excitedly answers the door.

There stands not a slim blonde, but a buxom black woman, Charlotte Morton (Queen Latifah). She is loud, brash and rude, and when Peter challenges her about the picture, she tells him that she never said she was the blonde. She points to the distant background of the photo she had sent, where a black woman is being shoved into the back of a police car. “That’s me,” she says proudly. “See? I didn’t lie.”

Peter madly tries to get her out of his house because his neighbor (played hilariously by Betty White) is highly suspicious and prejudiced, and tells all of the Sandersons’ business to her brother, senior partner at Peter’s law firm. She actually comes over and asks if she just heard someone speaking Negro. Peter denies it and pulls Charlotte back into the house. Charlotte confesses that she just got (temporarily) released from prison after being wrongfully accused of robbery, and now she wants Sanderson’s legal help in getting acquitted. When he refuses, she threatens to blackmail him by sending all his Internet letters to his law firm. Reluctantly, he agrees to help.

Charlotte begins introducing Peter to her world of the “hood” – the urban street language, people, and practices so opposite to his elite life as a lawyer who works only with exclusive clients. As a matter of fact, his current project is using any means necessary to win over a billionaire widow, Mrs. Arness, played by the stuffy British actress Joan Plowright.

Heaven has a way of messing up poorly motivated plans, however, and heaven’s tool in Peter’s life turns out to be the unpretentious Charlotte. She soon insinuates herself into his life and teaches him her earthy ways, which include street slang and wild sexual talk. She assures Peter that it will help him get back together with his ex-wife. In order to cover up for her, he tells his ex and his business associates that she is the children’s nanny. As a matter of fact, she begins to act like the nanny after awhile, teaching the young boy to read by introducing him to pornography . . . Lovely.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arness drops by Peter’s house one night, basically inviting herself to stay for dinner, and Peter insists that Charlotte dress up as a servant. During dinner Mrs. Arness continues to talk about how much Charlotte reminds her of her childhood servant who taught her slave songs like, “Is Massa Gonna Sell Us Tomorrow?” Finally, after Charlotte’s had enough, she spikes Mrs. Arness’s food with a laxative, but Peter exchanges plates with her and gets the curse himself.

Things go from bad to worse over the next few weeks, as Charlotte beats up Peter’s ex-sister-in-law, a gorgeous young gal who uses old men for their money, brings her dangerous ex-boyfriend into Peter’s life, places him in a precarious situation that gives his ex-wife the wrong idea, and almost gets him fired from his job at the firm. Peter must decide whether or not to choose his old proper ways of cowering before the greed and elitism of his law firm or to utilize Charlotte’s new ways of edgy freedom and confidence to turn the tables on his life.

With witty writing and talented acting, BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE could have had the potential to be a major blockbuster. Steve Martin is one of the great masters of physical humor, Jean Smart is always fun and classy in her roles (and still looks as fabulous as she did in her “Designing Women” days), and Joan Plowright and Betty White are a riot as stuffy, nosey, prejudiced women. Queen Latifah is a good actor, but her role in this movie is very rude and raunchy. Steve Martin is rude and raunchy with her!

The movie portrays this couple, which has no natural chemistry, “dirty dancing,” pretending to copulate, Steve gyrating with gourds in his pants, grabbing Queen Latifah’s breasts, and so on. The sad part is that it wasn’t necessary! So much of the movie’s humor was simply good, clean fun with sidesplitting shticks. It didn’t need the raunchy, rude sexual “humor” to help things along. As a matter of fact, MOVIEGUIDE® has found that when producers add such objectionable material, it hurts sales at the box-office. When will everyone learn?

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE has catfights, rude scatological (“potty mouth”) comments, and offensive gestures throughout its hundred minutes. There are racial slurs, old women smoking pot, children lying to and for their parents, children deceiving and sneaking out of the house at night, people using “church talk” to lie to each other, and so forth. What could have been charming, funny, comedic escapism for parents and teens must now, regrettably, by relegated to the “extreme caution” category. We encourage moral audiences to write to studios and remind them that rude and raunchy not only hurts families, but also hurts profits!

Better choices for entertainment would include JUNGLE BOOK 2 and GODS AND GENERALS.

Please address your comments to:

Michael Eisner, Chairman/CEO

Buena Vista Distribution Co.

(Walt Disney Pictures, Caravan, Hollywood, Miramax, & Touchstone Pictures)

500 South Buena Vista Street

Burbank, CA 91521

Phone: (818) 560-1000

Website: www.disney.com

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• User reviews

Bringing Down the House

• When a lonely guy meets a woman on the internet who happens to be in prison, she breaks out to get him to prove her innocence, and proceeds to wreak havoc on his middle-class life.
• Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a divorced, straight-laced, uptight attorney who still loves his ex-wife and can't figure out what he did wrong to make her leave him. However, Peter's trying to move on, and he's smitten with a brainy, bombshell lawyer with whom he's been chatting on-line. However, when she comes to his house for their first face-to-face, she isn't refined, isn't Ivy League, and isn't even a lawyer. Instead, it's Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), a prison escapee who's proclaiming her innocence and wants Peter to help her clear her name. But Peter wants nothing to do with her, prompting the loud and shocking Charlene to turn Peter's perfectly ordered life upside down, jeopardizing his effort to get back with his wife, and win a billion-dollar client. — Sujit R. Varma
• Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is an ordinary lawyer who has an on-line buddy named "Lawyer-Girl". But when Peter finally meets Lawyer-Girl, she turns out to be Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), a convict who was arrested for armed robbery, and she needs his help because she claims she didn't do it. In the meantime, Peter is meeting his new rich client, Virginia Arness (Dame Joan Plowright), on whom he tries hard not to make a bad impression, deal with his neighbor/boss' sister, go through a divorce, and handle two kids, along with the fact that Peter's best friend Howie Rottman (Eugene Levy) has fallen in love with Charlene. — <[email protected]>
• Tax attorney Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) meets a woman on-line by the name of Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah). He expects to meet a blonde haired, blue eyed attorney. What he gets is an African-American woman on the lam from prison. Charlene comes to Peter to ask his help in trying to find out who was responsible for framing her for armed robbery. In the meantime, she turns his life upside down by introducing him to a side of himself that is much different from the uptight WASP he is. — Brian Washington <[email protected]>
• Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a lawyer who is too wrapped up in his work for his family, and thus is estranged from his wife, takes up with a woman on a computer chat line that he thinks is a blonde attorney. Instead, she turns out to be escaped con Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), who claims to be innocent. Through a chain of threats, she coerces Peter into helping prove her innocence. In doing so, she also helps him rediscover his own life. His lawyer friend Howie Rottman (Eugene Levy) becomes infatuated with Charlene. There's also uptight heiress Virginia Arness (Dame Joan Plowright) with a bulldog named William Shakespeare, who is being pursued as a client by Peter's law office. — John Sacksteder <[email protected]

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score

The film fails as a satire because it's plenty racist on its own.

Steve Martin and Queen Latifah? Who woulda thunk it! But kudos to that brainchild!

It's a wheezing, rusted machine of cheap jokes, cartoon performances, and crummy plotting, using shock value and insensitivity to make its painfully unfunny points.

Everything about this film is painfully familiar, except, perhaps, for the vicious-but-comic catfight between Latifah and Missi Pyle, who plays a high-society gold digger.

Martin and Latifah rule in boundary-pushing PG-13.

You're better off ignoring this junk and saving your time.

If you've seen the commercials for Bringing Down the House, you already know the movie's best moments and most memorable lines...

Irreverent but perhaps not funny enough, "Bringing Down the House" gives Queen Latifah the chance to shine opposite Steve Martin.

Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, and Eugene Levy manage to squeeze laughs out of a totally generic, manufactured script that's drowning in odd couple formula.

Additional Info

• Genre : Comedy
• Release Date : March 7, 2003
• Languages : English, Spanish
• Captions : English, Spanish
• Audio Format : 5.1

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