Bringing Down the House

Review by Clint Morris

He's a self-proclaimed uptight 'honkey'. She's a straight trippin' Home Girl. Together they'll Bring Down the House.

At least, that's what the makers of of a new comedy, starring comedy vet Steve Martin and rising screen star Queen Latifah, hope.

A mixture of late 80's John Hughes comedies and some of Steve Martin's better films, Bringing Down the House stars the latter as Peter Anderson, a plain, bushed tax attorney who has very little in his life.

But on the net he has met a woman codenamed "Lawyer Girl", who he believes might be the answer to his prayers. Imagine his surprise then when a furtive African American loudmouth turns up at his door.

Charlene (Queen Latifah), it seems, isn't the "blonde" she said she was, instead, she's just out of the slammer for a crime she allegedly didn't commit and frenetically, Anderson pushes her out of his house.

But Charlene's got some skills in not-so-gentle blackmail, and the door is ultimately opened for her, if only until Peter has finished representing her on a legal basis.

Like John Hughes' Uncle Buck (1989), where a portly John Candy stayed in the home of his nephew and nieces and turned their lives upside down, ultimately getting them to change their tune and outlook on life for the better, Bringing Down the House centres on the person most unlikely to put a bright spark in the lead characters life.

Charlene it seems is going to put a bit of zap and pow into tired old Peters existence.

As Charlene, Oscar Nominee Latifah (Chicago) proves herself quite the comedienne, giving a entirely likeable performance, while enabling herself to dish the dirt and be the butt of it, at alternate moments.

But it's Steve Martin, who the movie was clearly written for, that gets most of the gags. It's been too long since we've seen the crazy, high-strung Martin of yesteryear, and this marks a welcome return.

Combining traits of his Father of the Bride and Housesitter characters, Martin is at his madcap premium as the film's token irk turnaround. The scenes where he breaks into fluid rap, while clad the part, are amusing to say the least.

But in some of the less madcap moments, Martin and Latifah are also quite charming. They're two performers with vastly different approaches to film perceptibly, but seem to click at just the right time. She is obviously going to go places, and he again proves to be one of the best funny-men on the planet.

Director Adam Shankman (A Walk to Remember) tends to tread a fine line between being quite racist and debasing towards certain minorities. But thankfully, he doesn't let it rule his film, largely intent on the lead duo's unconcealed chemistry and the script's salver of laughs.

3 out of 5

Bringing Down the House
Australian release: Thursday April 3rd
Cast: Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Jean Smart, Kimberly J. Brown, Angus T. Jones, Missi Pyle, Michael Rosenbaum, Betty White.
Director: Adam Shankman.
Website: Click here

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