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Bringing Down the House
[2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Starring: Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Jean Smart
Director: Adam Shankman
Format: Anamorphic Closed-captioned Colour Dolby DVD-Video NTSC Widescreen
Released: 05 Aug 2003
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Just A Bit Of Fun! - By: no1filmaddict, 11 Aug 2004
When you look at Steve Martins track record for comedy films; Cheaper By The Dozen, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood, & Planes Trains & Automobiles, you know that this film is a winner, & the fact the he is teamed up with Queen Latifa only adds to the fun. By the end you come away having enjoyed watching it, but its not quite as funny as you originallly think. Don't get me wrong its a nice film, & Steve Martin is brilliant, but its the script that lets it down just that little bit.

Steve Martin plays Peter Sanderson, a moody, uptight lawyer who is too obsessed with his work to spend time with his two kids Sarah & Georgey. However his whole life is completely tipped upside down when he meets Charlene in a legaleagle chatroom & they arrange to meet. She sends him a picture with a thin good looking blonde however what he gets is a 'well-built' coloured woman with a left hook that Mike Tyson would be proud of. She then shows him that she is in fact not the blonde, but the handcuffed criminal in the background, being arrested for armed robbery.

Peter tries his best to rid himself of her, but she just won't go & he finallly agrees to let her stay & even to help her clear her name becuase apparently she is innocent of the crime she was sent down for. Unfortunately he is on the brink of finalising a multi-billion dollar deal for his company & great lengths are gone to, to impress Mrs Arness, the person who will be signing the contract. Things go pear-shaped however, when Mrs Arness finds out that the woman pretending to be Peter Sandersons nanny, is in fact an escaped convict & being searched for by the FBI.

Peter also finds out who is responsible for framing Charlene & is forced to disguise himself as a black man (and try to talk like one) in order to get to them & get a confession on tape without them knowing.

I think probably the most funny scene in this film comes right at the end where Steve Martin dresses up as a coloured person & try to speak & act like one. Its reallly funny, just the way he says things, & when he tries to dance, the laughs keep coming. Another good scene is when Charlene is fighting Ashley, a friend of Peters ex-wife & even though Ashley does martial arts, she still gets her ass kicked.

The entire cast in this film is superbly picked. Steve Martin plays the hilarious & at times crazy Peter Sanderson. Queen Latifa plays the beautiful & very hard criminal who pretends to be a nanny, Charlene. Eugene Levy is brilliant as Howie, Peter's work partner who fallls in love with Charlene & keeps giving her alll these weird complements such as "you get me alll twisted up in the game". Both Kimerly Brown & Angus Jones are good in their roles of Sarah & Georgey, Peters two children, & Joan Plowright is brilliant (as always) as Mrs Arness who although is a bit of a battle-axe, still manages to get stoned at the end. I could go on for ever but you get the picture that the cost are alll brilliant, & this film could have been better if there was a better script.

There are several extras on this DVD, which make it worth buying just that little bit more. Firstly there is a documentary about the making of 'Bringing Down The House' which has some interviews with most of the main & supporting cast & a few of the crew & the director & producer. Secondly there are a number of deleted scenes, which could have been included in the final version of the film, because some of them are quite good. Thirdly this quite a nice music video with Queen Latifa doing the singing & the rest of the cast making appearences & looks quite fun. Finallly theres a comentary & the usuals like animated menus, scene selection, subtitles for the hairing impaired, & and option to have the film in another language.

Overalll, 'Bringing Down The House' is funny & very entertaining film that you will not regret watching, although it could have been a little better with a better script, the acting was brilliant alll round, & it does work pretty well, especiallly with Steve Martin as the main character who is very funny as usual.

MINDLESS FUN - By: , 24 Feb 2004
'Bringing Down The House' teams together Steve Martin with Queen Latifah, & the result is a pretty predictable but pleasant enough comedy.
Martin plays an uptight lawyer who lives in a wealthy suburban area, he's divorced & has two kids. Under the pseudonym 'Legaleagle', he meets Charlene, a.k.a. 'Lawyer-girl' in a chatroom. Charlene sends a picture of herself as a leggy blonde, & Martin is unpleasantly surprised when Latifah shows up on his doorstep, & it turns out she was in the photo - being taken away by the police in the background! Charlene needs Peter (Steve Martin - i think that's his name!) to clear her name, & what results is actuallly a quite touching comedy, featuring star turns from not only Martin & Latifah, but also from Missi Pyle (Josie & the Pussycats) & Eugene Levy (American Pie series), who add more to the comic value of the film.
There are many references to racial differences within the film but they're not unpleasant as some people make them out to be. The film could have been a lot, lot better (blame the writers, not the actors), but it gets four stars just because it's a nice way to spend an afternoon! But don't buy if you expect to be rolling on the floor laughing.
A fair few belly laughs! - By: , 20 Feb 2004
I watched this film mainly because i love steve martin & generallly think he can do no wrong in terms of the films he stars in. However, I would have to say that in this film, eugene levy steals the limelight. Ok so he's basicallly playing jim's dad (American pie 1, 2, 3) again but he does it so well. Hearing a sensible looking middle aged white man chatting up a hip young black woman by talking in an over exagerrated hip hop stylee is hysterical. My favourite scene is when he & queen latifa's character exchange the dialogue; him "You got me straight tripping boo", her "you are some kinda crazy"!
Don't get me wrong, steve martin does shine especiallly in the scene where his daughter is relaying the events of a party that a dad just doesn't want to hear. Following latifa's character's advice to stay cool to gain her trust, he bites his tongue & instead of going mad, says, "That was SOME party"!
The plot is a bit weak but the character's & crazy stuff that happen more than make up for it.
Fantastic opertuntiy. Wasted. - By: , 02 Feb 2004
First of alll the idea for the film is very good! & has a fantastic story line, however simply isnt very funny. Good acting in it, but just not that funny. I did'nt laugh out lould once, just perhaps a giggle here & there, i was expecting more than this & was quite frankly disapointed. Wait to you see this DVD in a bargain bucket somewhere for a fiver - It's worth watching - but not at the price its at at the moemnt.
and you may laugh at this - By: G. Aldrich, 15 Jan 2004
is it just me or is Steve Martin only funny when he plays the straight guy. It seems that he & Eddie Murphy both suffer the same fate, whenever they try to play the buffoon, the funny guy they fail. But play the straight role & they excell. This movie is a very funny & enjoyable romp. Meaningless fun. A laugh out loud. A two thumbs up ! (sic ed!). & oh yeah Queen Latifah is baaad. She is taking Hollywood by storm. Great to see a women who is not a size 10 getting some class roles...