Movie Review for Bringing Down the House

Summary: Peter Sanderson 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 barrister he's been chatting with online. 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, 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 woo a billion dollar client. In the end, our unlikely pair has the chance to put each other's lives on higher ground--if they don't end up bringing down the house.

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Rebecca Murray of About.com (7/0)
            The movie gets stuck in a seemingly never-ending cycle of pointless, recycled racial jokes and et...

By Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat (7/0)
            I could never decide whether Bringing Down the House was satirizing racial stereotypes o...

By Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            The equivalent of a fast-food meal -- everyone seems to love it, it slides down in a hurry, impar...

By Stella Papamichael of BBC (7/0)
            The friction between [Martin's] button-down lawyer, Peter Sanderson, and ghetto-fabulous fugitive...

By Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi of Broomfield Enterprise (7/0)
            This movie failed to make me laugh out loud so it must be in material breach.

By Rob Thomas of Capital Times (Madison, WI) (7/0)
            Having actresses like the matriarchal Joan Plowright say “homie” is shaping up to be the most irr...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
            The movie's real spectacle is the sight of so many talented people slogging through such idiotic ...

By Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend.com (7/0)
            Twenty years ago it was funny to see white people trying to act black.

By David Keyes of Cinemaphile.org (7/0)
            In a movie as obvious as this, we know exactly what is expected of people at specific intervals, ...

By Karina Montgomery of Cinerina (7/0)
            Despite everything being there that should make it work, something was missing.

By Mark Palermo of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (7/0)
            It’s a rich-white-man- hangs-out-with-a- black-convict-in-order- to-channel-his- inner-blackness-...

By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (7/0)
            Director Shankman ruins a lot of gags with poor timing, brain-dead cuts and uninspired staging.

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Larry Carroll of Countingdown.com (7/0)
            It relies on stolen gags for humor, forced relationships for empathy, and racist jokes for shock ...

By Steven D. Greydanus of Decent Films Guide (7/0)
            Thinks it is enlightened because it is down on white culture and down with black culture. It is n...

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (7/0)
            This is possibly the most embarrassing thing Steve Martin has ever been associated with.

By John J. Puccio of DVDTown.com (7/0)
            Steve Martin used to be a wild and crazy guy. Now he's as bland as his hair.

By David Foucher of EDGE Boston (7/0)
            Irreverent but perhaps not funny enough, “Bringing Down the House” gives Queen Latifah the chance...

By Collin Souter of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            It deserves to be buried in obscurity--if not burned beyond recognition--along with other comedie...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            I’m ashamed that this movie exists, that people got paid for it and that someone out there will e...

By Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Equally insulting to both races, Bringing Down the House is one of the most hateful and low-minde...

By Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
            Coarse, poorly tuned comedy.

By Kim Linekin of eye WEEKLY (7/0)
            Charlene establishes herself early on as manipulative and untrustworthy, which could lead to wick...

By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (7/0)
            Simple comedy, done right.

By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (7/0)
            That Martin even has a pink house-servant costume for Latifah to wear suggests a dysfunction far ...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By David Noh of Film Journal International (7/0)
            The script, like Adam Shankman's whomping direction, is obvious and formulaic, and pretty shamele...

By Jimmy O of Film Snobs (7/0)
            Why hasn't Spike Lee held a press conference about thing yet?

By Stephen Himes of Film Snobs (7/0)
            I think it was after Betty White told Steve Martin's son not to "wear his hair like a ***" that I...

By Norm Schrager of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Keeps its audience giggling and occasionally shocked.

By Michael Rechtshaffen of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            Questionably tasteful but often laugh-out-loud funny.

By Bruce Westbrook of Houston Chronicle (7/0)
            It's inspired comic casting with rare feel-good chemistry.

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Gary Brown of Houston Community Newspapers (7/0)
            ...simply embarrassing.

By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            Isn't slavery funny? Ugh!

By JoBlo of JoBlo's Movie Emporium (7/0)
            Yet another film created for the lowest common denominator in all of us.

By Alex Sandell of Juicy Cerebellum (7/0)
            Borders on being as offensive and misguided as a slapstick version of Roots.

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (7/0)
            Although certainly not anyone's idea of a cerebral comedy, 'House' isn't stupid, either. If it we...

By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
            Kudos to Steve Martin for choosing this script. He's laughing all the way to the bank. The audien...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies (7/0)
            At some point during Bringing Down the House, I covered my face ... I haven't had that kind of r...

By Connie Ogle of Miami Herald (7/0)
            This House is built on a shaky foundation.

By Duane Dudek of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
            First-time director Adam Shankman and first-time screenwriter Jason Filardi approach the concept ...

By Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
            Queen Latifah alone is worth the price of admission: The woman has enough screen presence for six...

By David N. Butterworth of Movie Boeuf (7/0)
            The film presumes white people talking like black people to be original, and they were talking ji...

By Frank Ochieng of Movie Eye (7/0)
            ...exceedingly derivative and graceless...a lax affair that goes for the cheap gags. The architec...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Nell Minow of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (7/0)
            Queen Latifah's wonderfully radiant star quality, Steve Martin's comic grace and Eugene Levy's ma...

By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (7/0)
            The film contains nothing but recycled gags which are worn so thin that the audience can see righ...

By Mark Ramsey of MovieJuice! (7/0)
            It's side-splitting, knee-slapping, and belly-aching fun the same way that a pounding headache ha...

By Jeremy Heilman of MovieMartyr.com (7/0)
            The film only truly stumbles as it enters into its plot-heavy third act, which wastes a lot of en...

By Peter Rainer of New York Magazine (7/0)
            The material is thin and pandering and almost criminally negligent in bypassing opportunities for...

By Gene Seymour of Newsday (7/0)
            Like one of those overbearing relatives who bursts into the living room, invited or not, and shat...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Jeffrey Westhoff of Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) (7/0)
            Jason Filardi’s script could have been written for Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller in the 1960s, with...

By Edward Johnson-Ott of NUVO Newsweekly (7/0)
            'A rewrite – one that played more off the straight-laced vs. laid-back dynamic rather than racial...

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
            Filled with crude stereotypes...the odd couple pairing fizzles instead of sending off sparks.

By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (7/0)
            The latest film to make people laugh by taking an uptight cracker and forcing him to become Malib...

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (7/0)
            ...manages to remain entertaining in spite of the lackluster script.

By Pam Grady of Reel.com (7/0)
            Ignore the creaky story; see it for the slapstick.

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Laura Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            Jason Filardi's first screenplay is cobbled together from every unwanted guest/outsider helps kid...

By Forrest Hartman of Reno Gazette-Journal (7/0)
            Each performer charms the audience by presenting characters we like even when we shouldn’t.

By Jack Garner of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (7/0)
            The combination of Steve Martin and Queen Latifah is quirky genius.

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (7/0)
            The material has been done before and there's not much more one can do with it. Thank God for Que...

By Jim Lane of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
            A tawdry waste all around.

By Charles Taylor of Salon.com (7/0)
            The movie appears to have been made for an audience that considers the idea of black people terri...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Jim Judy of Screen It! (7/0)
            While it offers some occasional laughs, the film makes the fatal flaw of letting down its stronge...

By Paul West of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            Jason Filardi's broad script is an uneven hodgepodge of culture clash, screwball romance, urban c...

By Moira MacDonald of Seattle Times (7/0)
            The rare film that manages to be simultaneously bland and offensive.

By Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine (7/0)
            And though the film’s white characters repeatedly make fools of themselves, they’re patted on the...

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            Bringing Down the House is a hilarious comedy about a brassy and bold African-American who helps ...

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            The film's idea of being risqué is to make Martin's neighbors and law partners -- and most...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures (U.S.) (7/0)
            ...“Bringing Down the House” is certainly worth the ticket in.

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/0)
            This movie is not without problems, but when it's on, it's funny.

By Audrey Rock-Richardson of Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) (7/0)
            Latifah gives a sassy female twist to the old formula

By Angel Cohn of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            Shankman relies heavily on the terrific supporting cast for laughs, and he should be eternally gr...

By Desson Thomson of Washington Post (7/0)
            The sitcom shtick wears thin after a while.

By Jeffrey Chen of Window to the Movies (7/0)
            Even without the movie pushing our buttons with its racist antagonists, Latifah would have won us...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By John Beifuss of Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            The film dramatizes in a comic way a white upper-class fear of black underclass invasion... and s...

By Phil Villarreal of Arizona Daily Star (3/4) No reference
            Has so much going for it, it's all the more jarring when the laughs stop coming. It's a shame the...

By Christopher Smith of Bangor Daily News (Maine) (3/4) No reference
            "Bringing Down the House" stars Queen Latifah as the wrecking ball, always a good bet these days,...

By James Hill of BET.com (3/4) No reference
            The real star of "Bringing Down the House" - Queen Latifah's enormous breasts. Latifah's bosom no...

By Tim Cogshell of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
            This is an early ’80s Whoopi Goldberg movie.

By Pablo Villaca of Cinema em Cena (3/4) No reference
            Qualquer filme que tente provocar risos através de animais vestidos com 'roupas engraçadas' está ...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Jeff Berson of Citysearch (3/4) No reference
            Does little more than milk its one culture-clash joke and play up stereotypes.

By Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing (3/4) No reference
            The story is utter nonsense, but what makes the film work are the terrific comic performances dri...

By Sean O'Connell of Eclipse Magazine (3/4) No reference
            Short on laughs that don’t involve racist remarks, House decimates race relations and sets civil ...

By Shirley Klass of Fantastica Daily (3/4) No reference
            Not only is this a cinematic travesty, but it is a societal wrong.

By Kevin Carr of Film Threat (3/4) No reference
            With enough good nature and friendly humor to still be considered a family comedy, Bringing Down ...

By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (3/4) No reference
            Supposedly busts conventional ideas while relying on the audiences’ prejudices to make them laugh...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Ross Anthony of Hollywood Report Card (3/4) No reference
            Struggling at the outset, the film actually stutters and sparks into some very funny sequences. N...

By Kit Bowen of Hollywood.com (3/4) No reference
            It's a broad comedy, pure and simple, but in making us laugh, apparently it is also necessary to ...

By Bruce Kirkland of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
            It's silly and it's got more heart, and better street sense in its culture mosaic, than you would...

By Louis B. Hobson of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
            It's the kind of broad laugh fest Whoopi Goldberg was doing for the House of Mouse a decade ago w...

By Loey Lockerby of Kansas City Star (3/4) No reference
            The only way to make this project work would be to transplant its actors to an entirely different...

By Chuck Wilson of L.A. Weekly (3/4) No reference
            Even the director's flat-footed moves can't quell Martin and Latifah, whose combined energy is fe...

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly (3/4) No reference
            It’s completely forgettable and unoriginal, but it might make a good rental on a slow family movi...

By John Larsen of Light Views (6/1) No reference
            I liked "Bringing Down the House" the first time I saw it, when it was called "Houseguest"

By Bob Strauss of Los Angeles Daily News (3/4) No reference
            It's obvious, formulaic, often very funny and oddly cheerful as it goes about debunking prejudice...

By Kevin A. Ranson of MovieCrypt.com (3/4) No reference
            Are old white guys trying to act like young black girls still funny? Whoever keeps writing these ...

By Kim Morgan of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
            Simplistic, sometimes funny but mostly stupid.

By Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            A gut-busting black-and-white culture clash comedy.

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/4) No reference
            If nothing else, Bringing Down the House reminds us that Martin still is... one wild and crazy gu...

By Carrie Rickey of Philadelphia Inquirer (3/4) No reference
            A gut-busting, stereotype-busting slapstick comedy.

By Dawn Taylor of Portland Tribune (3/4) No reference
            ... while Martin and Latifah are immensely likable, the tawdry use of racial stereotypes as the b...

By Andrew Manning of Radio Free Entertainment (3/4) No reference
            Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, and Eugene Levy manage to squeeze laughs out of a totally generic, m...

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (3/4) No reference
            [Many] scenes carry a sort of contrived "wackiness" not seen since Bewitched went into reruns.

By David Elliott of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/4) No reference
            The movie delivers its very manufactured goods, but it lacks the guts to be a meaningful comedy.

                         Reviews of Bringing Down the House
By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) No reference
            The heart of the movie is the perfect chemistry between Latifah and Martin.

By Josh Larsen of Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) (3/4) No reference
            ...intends to unite black and white audiences, and probably will -- by reinforcing the laziest im...

By John Venable of Supercala.com (3/4) No reference
            It's an odd mix of entertaining yet irresponsible filmmaking...wait to rent it.

By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (3/4) No reference
            There are enough genuine laughs to keep things fun and undemanding...Queen Latifah steals the fil...

By Jonathan R. Perry of Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (3/4) No reference
            Over the last five years, the unfortunate but predictable upshot of a Steve Martin appearance in ...

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