Bringing Down The House (2003)

34% of critics liked it
(146 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(361,155 ratings)

A man looking for a woman just like himself ends up with someone quite different in this farcical comedy. Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a lawyer who is having trouble getting his life back on track after his wife, Kate (Jean Smart), divorces him; he's also adjusting to his new status as a single… More A man looking for a woman just like himself ends up with someone quite different in this farcical comedy. Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a lawyer who is having trouble getting his life back on track after his wife, Kate (Jean Smart), divorces him; he's also adjusting to his new status as a single father. Looking for companionship, Peter tries an internet dating site and virtually meets "lawyer-girl," an attractive and single fellow attorney. Peter makes a date with her, but the woman who arrives at his door turns out to be Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), who not only isn't a lawyer, she turns out to be an escaped convict. Charlene is also a brash and brassy African-American, while Peter is perhaps the most tightly wound white guy in L.A. Charlene explains to Peter that she's strung him along because she's innocent of the crime for which she was convicted, and she needs a top-notch attorney to help prove her case. Peter isn't the least bit interested at first, but Charlene isn't the sort of woman to take "no" for an answer, and in time she wears him down and agrees to help. As Charlene moves into Peter's home, she helps him to loosen up and unleash his inner groove, which quite surprises Kate, and her down-to-earth advice comes in handy for Peter's son and daughter. But Charlene may end up going too far when Peter is asked to entertain Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright), a wealthy woman looking for a new law firm. Bringing Down the House also features Eugene Levy as Howie, one of Peter's friends who takes a keen interest in Charlene, and Betty White as one of Peter's neighbors. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Adam Shankman
Written By: Jason Filardi
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 7, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Aug 5, 2003
Studio: Touchstone Pictures

Critic Reviews

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
A comedy that successfully plays with stereotypes, both racial and personal.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
You have somebody as smart as Steve Martin, and as smart and appealing as Queen Latifah in a movie like this. To have such an awful, offensive story is a real disappointment.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
A comedy constructed from tapped-out ideas.
Jane Dark, Village Voice
A Film in Which Steve Martin Will Appear in Full Hip-Hop Drag With Appropriate Slang for Not Less Than Six Minutes.
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
The material is thin and pandering and almost criminally negligent in bypassing opportunities for humor.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
It's a sorry situation when actors as talented and funny as Queen Latifah and Steve Martin waste their efforts in an offensive exercise that feels like a bad sitcom.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
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.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Martin and Latifah rule in boundary-pushing PG-13.
Greg Maki, Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
If you've seen the commercials for Bringing Down the House, you already know the movie's best moments and most memorable lines...
David Foucher, EDGE Boston
Irreverent but perhaps not funny enough, "Bringing Down the House" gives Queen Latifah the chance to shine opposite Steve Martin.
Andrew Manning, Radio Free Entertainment
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.

Read all 11 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Alexander D

Good+
Bethany M

A great feel good comedy!
Richard C

C
Wahida K

This Movie reminds me a little bit of the Movie House Sitter?
Coxxie M

please please god take Queen Latifas ego down one notch. did her parents HAVE TO name her Queen?? what did they think that would do to her??
Derek D

This movie is so fanatically racist at times that, had Steve Martin not been starring in it, I could swear I was watching Roots. And with Eugene Levy co-starring here with his lifelong list of films he's been in (read: every single one ever) it wouldn't surprise me if he was… More
This movie is so fanatically racist at times that, had Steve Martin not been starring in it, I could swear I was watching Roots. And with Eugene Levy co-starring here with his lifelong list of films he's been in (read: every single one ever) it wouldn't surprise me if he was right there alongside James Earl Jones and the guy from Reading Rainbow in Alex Haley's miniseries. But enough about civil rights. Starting out, I didn't expect much at all from this movie, so it came as a total shock to me when I realized early on that this movie was actually pretty funny. Not a classic, but no bad. It ranks right up there with another Martin vehicle, Bowfinger, as pleasantly funny surprises in cinema.
Jens S

Dear Steve Martin, what happened to you? You were in some of the funniest movies of the 80s and you didn't seem to age one bit. Why do they not offer you decent scripts anymore? Why do you do movies like this? Sure, it's not awful, has its moments and it's actually you… More
Dear Steve Martin, what happened to you? You were in some of the funniest movies of the 80s and you didn't seem to age one bit. Why do they not offer you decent scripts anymore? Why do you do movies like this? Sure, it's not awful, has its moments and it's actually you and Queen Latifah that make this watchable, but somehow I miss the old days. The old racist lady made me laugh a few times too, but for every scene that contained some wonderfully wrong laughs there were two that made me rather embarrassed about the whole flick and the people involved (I am thinking of the ones with you as a rapping gangsta, Steve). Maybe they weren't as bad in the English original, but I can't imagine them having been really funny either. So please, go back to your roots soon. Sincerely, a former fan.
Taylor B

Only way this movie's bringing down the house is if Queen Latifah sits on it.
Tim S

This movie is more racist than anybody from the south....including me.
Rachel F

Hilarious. I love Queen Latifah.
Cassandra M

ew
Leigh R

Funny and clever...
Stuart B

overated
Aaron N

He's a conservative white man, She's a sister from soul town or something stupid, watch as they tackle the always hilarious comic struggle of: "what happens when black and white people mix together and act like eachother." ho ho
Sanjaya &

Very funny...
Kalel J

Theres obvious clashes within this film, and thats what the story intends. What it doesn't intend though is making a clash between itself and the audience, done through a film that is just poorly made.
Christopher O

A pairing of Steve martin and Queen Latifiah may seem bizzare and it is but it works and is funny. Martin plays a lost soul newly divorced who tries internet dating when his world collides with Queen Latifiah and fast talking woman with street smarts and attitude who really needs… More
A pairing of Steve martin and Queen Latifiah may seem bizzare and it is but it works and is funny. Martin plays a lost soul newly divorced who tries internet dating when his world collides with Queen Latifiah and fast talking woman with street smarts and attitude who really needs legal advice. The scene where Martin tries to go Ghetto is worth watching alone. Eugene Levy and Jean Smart ably lend their support as does british actress Joan Plowright. It is silly and goofy but has hidden charm.
Deb S

Steve Martin is a very uptight lawyer who finds love by constantly emailing a woman who he only knows through the internet. They finally meet and she turns out to be a convict and not what he expects. Eugene Levy (American Pie) plays Steve Martin's assistant lawyer and is simply… More
Steve Martin is a very uptight lawyer who finds love by constantly emailing a woman who he only knows through the internet. They finally meet and she turns out to be a convict and not what he expects. Eugene Levy (American Pie) plays Steve Martin's assistant lawyer and is simply hilarious. Betty White as the racist neighbor was a little too much for me lol. It was funny stuff so sit back, relax and have fun with this one.
Yinalí R

Absolutely entertaining movie. You think it's one thing, and it's another.
Andrew F

It's okay... kind of stupid at times. But it is kind of funny.