Rating: 
Summary: Promoting racism
Review: This movie is the worst movie ever. It was funny at first, but there was so many racist jokes that after a while, I just outright offended. It makes all white people look so damn ignorant! It was quit offensive to see how many racist jokes there were, as if they had nothing else to talk about. I am quit disappointed to see Latifah play such an offensive role.
Rating: 
Summary: Queen Latifah Takes No Prisoners
Review: It's a typical Steve Martin movie -- light hearted, polite, bittersweet, with crazy contradictions, but of course all's well at the end and all's happy. But that's not all. The film also boldly steps into the mine field of race relations, or more specifically, targets the racial prejudice of some white upper-class folks living privileged lives in wonder-bread neighborhoods. "Race Relations Light," perhaps. But ultimately the movie has its heart in the right place. Queen Latifah, God-bless her bold beauty and irrepressible and irreverent soul, drops like a bombshell into the refined world of our tax lawyer seaching for a date in internet chat rooms. The more he tries to get rid of her, the more he is drawn into her world. The only thing that does not quite cut the mustard in this movie are those scenes where Steve Martin dresses up (or down, depending on your background) as a guy "from the hood" and visits a hip-hop joint in the slums. That was really unnecessary and completely unbelievable. I was embarassed on Mr. Martin's behalf as I was watching it. (I otherwise adore the guy. He certainly is a genius.) Watch it for the gorgeous Queen Latifah. We need more ladies like her in the world.
Rating: 
Summary: A funny movie, but I disagree with the rating.
Review: Whoever cast this movie is a genius. Queen Latifah and Steve Martin are hilarious playing opposite each other, and Eugene Levy's character was so funny. However, I do not think this movie was mild enough to be rated PG-13, I feel it should have been rated R. There is a lot of cussing and sexual inuendo that a child probably shouldn't be subjected to (yes even a 13 year old). The scene where the two leads come home drunk from a night out and "Charlene" is trying to instruct the guy on how to be sexy, is downright pornographic. I could have done without that altogether, it was embarrassing just to watch it. I also thought the fight scene between "Charlene" and the skinny sister-in-law was absurd, there isn't enoug Tae-Bo in all the world that would make that skinny little thing be able to beat up Queen Latifah like that. There were 2 or 3 scenes that practically made me fall out of my chair and roll around they were so hilarious. This is a funny movie to rent for a night with your friends, but once again it is not for teens or younger (in my own opinion...don't say I didn't warn you).
Rating: 
Summary: What I learned
Review: By watching this movie, I learned the following: 1. Jews (Eugene Levy) are underrepresented in the legal profession. Law firms are mostly white, Waspish, and consequently racist.
2. Jews (Eugene Levy again) are all liberal and don't think twice about interracial dating, and consequently interracial marriage.
3. Blacks are all felons. And crafty ones at that. They shouldn't be allowed into a white neighborhood, because they might break into a house and have an impromptu house party. And, lacking impulse control, they might pull a knife on you at any moment.
4. Whites, especially older ones, are racists. But that's only because they know that Blacks and Hispanics have their place, and it's not in a white neighborhood, unless they're a nanny or "carrying a leaf blower."
5. The reason Blacks are all potential felons is because whites have roundly discriminated against them. Especially older white southerners, who tend to be worse than Strom Thurmond could ever hope to be.
6. Older white southerners, will, at the drop of a hat, in remembrance of their black servants, start singing "Negro spirituals" about being sold by the "Massa".
7. In fact, whites expect blacks to be in subservient positions. At all times. If a black is not in a definite subservient position, whites will ask them what the hell they are doing, or who the hell do they think they are?
8. Most white southerners have had black servants at one time or another.
9. The Civil War was fought over slavery (not really in the movie, but you could extrapolate that from 5 through 8, above).
10. Having a job makes you uptight. Especially if you're white.
11. Blacks are not racist, ever. Even if they're Queen Latifah and used to make a living writing songs about killing white people. In fact, the only reason a black person would assault a white person is if that white was a racist and really deserved it.
12. All whites live in big houses that have big lawns and approximately 9 bedrooms. Their ex's also live in equally large homes.
13. Whites are uptight about sex and can't dance. They need a black person to loosen them up in both of these areas. After all, blacks are very sexual and have natural rhythm.
14. If your 15 year old daughter lies in order to go to a rave, downs some Ecstasy, and consequently gets raped, instead of imposing some sort of discipline, it's much better to have a heart-to-heart. After all, she is practically a grown woman. With these answers, I was able to pass my Test of Political Correctness with flying colors, but my reality check bounced. It's overall not a bad movie if you can get past a few flaws, which include a bad script and an unbelievable plot. In addition, the acting isn't half bad, and Queen Latifah has an enjoyable presence. I was just left wondering why I even bothered checking it out at the video store.
Rating:
Summary: Cute & Humorous
Review: I'm a fan of Queen Latifah's, Steve Martin's, and Eugene Levy's, so the movie was great for me right from the start. It's a plain all-out humorous movie! The acting is great with some favorite stars being involved, and you'll feel good viewing this one.
Rating: 
Summary: OMG...hilarious!!
Review: I cannot say enough about this film...I saw it when it first came out to the theaters and I had to see it again when it came out on DVD...this is one of the funniest movies of 2003!! Almost every bit, if not every bit of this movie had me laughing to the point of p*****g my pants...for real!! QL and Steve Martin are excellent in this film, and if you just want to have a good time, and can relax a bit...rent this film!! It is so good, I might buy it!!
Rating:
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure for the Ages
Review: Some films are so delightfully over-the-top that it is almost impossible to resist them. In the Steve Martin vehicle Bringing Down the House, a middle aged white man gets dressed up in "gangsta" clothing to infiltrate a club in the hood, a black women hangs a white teenager from the roof of a building and an elderly British heiress smokes pot and sings a slave work song (not necessarily in that order). The result is a film that is unruly, somewhat offensive, but a whole lot of fun. The plot involves a clash between uptight lawyer Peter Sanderson (Martin), and sassy soul sister Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah). In predictable (but hilarious) fashion, Peter helps prove Charlene's innocence in an armed robbery while Charlene helps Peter re-connect with his ex-wife and kids (kind of like The Nanny with flava). Martin and Latifah handle the outlandish material with style, but it's Eugene Levy who steals this puppy as a white lawyer who is "straight tripping" over Charlene's charms. File this one under guilty pleasures and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Just have a good time..
Review: Is anyone expecting a classic here? Or landmark performances? Academy award nominations? I didn't. This is one of the movies which you would watch just to unwind and have some laughs. Steve Martin has always been funny. He doesn't go wrong here too. His character is one which has been enacted a 100 times before - high-strung, too busy lawyer not spending enough time with the kids and obviously not much of a success in his love life too. He's under pressure trying to bag a multi-million client for his law firm and along barges in Queen Latifah into his life claiming he try her case and clear her name. Formulaic laughs and situations just happen one after the other after that. Finally Queen Latifah becomes the darling of everyone and Steve Martin breaks out of his monotonous life. I am not sure in which all movies I have seen these, but oh yeah! I have seen this before. Nonetheless, I had a ball ! All this racist accusations about the movie are definitely out of place. I didn't feel this was very racist. Do not think too much. Definitely not a groundbreaker. The kind of movie you would probably want to see after a hard day at work.
Highlights to watch out for - QL and Steve Martin's ex-wife's sister fist-fighting to Robert Palmer's 'Simply Irresistable' and Steve Martin's hip-hop routine at the Down Low club.
Rating:
Summary: I Can't Believe You All Hate It So Much...
Review: Two words. Steve Martin. That should be enough for you. If you are a Steve Martin fan, this will be a blast. I'm not even a Queen Latifah fan - can't think of anything of hers I know and/or like - but she did fine in this movie. Cookie-cutter? Sure? Predictable? Of course. THAT WASN'T THE POINT. The point was watching the actors (Martin, Levy, hell, even Latifah) have some fun and be creative. No, it wasn't just the white people who were racist. What part of "the only white person at [this particular club] is either a cop, a corpse, or a crackhead" were you all having trouble with. Martin's neighbor walks out with a golf club because "I though I heard Negro!" but you don't see her opening fire on an ethnic person in her neighborhood, either. The point of the movie wasn't racism. It was about how ridiculous people can be in their extremes; of course pot won't fix racism. This movie wasn't TRYING to fix anything ...rather, just celebrativing the differences, even when those differences have little tolerance for one another! Get a clue, all of you. Get a sense of humor, and quite trying to make comedies fix the social problems they poke fun at. That's just putting the cart before the horse.
Rating:
Summary: For Old People
Review: The white guy goes hip-hop thing has been done many times before (the climactic club scene here is dead-on Bulworth). So now it must be completely safe -- and a guaranteed seller. Take hip-hop, add some old white stars, very slick (unreal sit-com) sets and looks, and you have this very cynical movie. An old joke, and Queen Latifah is as one-dimensional as the rest of them. All we needed was that blonde... Meg Ryan to shoot this movie into Chlorox commercial land... Shoulda been called Straight Outta Stepford. 2 stars for Martin and Levy just being there to remind me of their former glories, and karate gal.
| 
