What do you get when you put rap star/actress Queen Latifah and comedic legend Steve Martin under the same roof? The answer is a hilarious, laugh out loud movie that will have you talking for days.
Opening on March 7, “Bringing Down the House” ruled the box office in its first week of release, grossing a cool 32 million dollars.
The comedy stars Martin as Peter Sanderson, a tax attorney whose wife (Jean Smart) has recently left him. Looking for love in all the wrong places, Peter tries online dating and, to his knowledge, arranges a date with a gorgeous, smart attorney, known on the web as “Lawyer Girl.”
When the woman arrives at his house for their first face-to-face meeting, he discovers that his date is Charlene Morton (Latifah), a quick-witted escaped con who misrepresented herself as the blonde in the foreground of an attached digital photo, rather than the confrontational black lady being handcuffed in the background.
She seeks Peter’s legal knowledge to clear her name of all charges against her and, when Peter refuses, Charlene turns his orderly suburban life into complete chaos, threatening to “bring down the house,” as well as him.
Charlene begins her destruction by throwing a pool party for a mere hundred or two of her friends at Peter’s house, as well as potentially ruining his meeting with a rich British dowager . These are just a couple of measures Charlene takes to get Peter’s attention.
Once he cooperates and lets Charlene stay, she does more than enough to earn her keep. She teaches his 8-year old son how to read via adult magazines. She also rescues his 15-year old daughter from a party, by hanging the guy who tried to take advantage of her outside the window by his ankles.
There are a few scenes that will be remembered for many years. After dinner and dancing (watching Steve Martin dance is hilarious in itself) Charlene teaches Peter how to romance and seduce his woman, resulting in Charlene riding the clueless lawyer like a bull.
Viewers of the MTV Movie Awards can already cast their votes for Best Fight Scene: Queen Latifah versus Missy Pile (Ashley, Peter’s ex sister-in-law). Headlocks, “Matrix-esque” moves and Tae-Bo are featured in this unforgettable fight scene. I will not leak who won, but you can use your imagination.
Throughout the movie, the two stars have great chemistry with one another. Latifah, who has recently increased her acting resume with a supporting role in the highly nominated and critically acclaimed “Chicago,” is a riot, while Martin, best known for his days on “Saturday Night Live,” also shines.
However, the spotlight is stolen by the ever-amusing Eugene Levy, also known as the father of Jim in “American Pie.” An associate of Peter’s, Levy falls for the voluptuous Charlene and will be remembered for his sidesplitting language such as when he tells her: “You got me straight tripping, boo.”
“Bringing Down the House” is one of the funniest comedies to hit theatres in a long time and will have people going back for seconds and thirds.
