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Big Momma's House (Special Edition) |
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DVD Comedy
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Written by Abbie Bernstein
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Tuesday, 06 March 2001 |
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title:
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Big Momma's House |
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studio:
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20th Century Fox Home Video |
| starring: |
Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, Terrence Howard |
| release year: |
2000 |
| film rating: |
Three Stars |
| sound/picture: |
Two-and-a-Half Stars |
| reviewed by: |
Abbie Bernstein |
"Big Momma’s House" is a serviceable cop/mistaken identity comedy that
marries "Stakeout" to "Mrs. Doubtfire." The Martin Lawrence vehicle is
funny despite its predictability. Its central joke is as surefire as it
is obvious: an undercover FBI agent is forced to pose as a 300-pound
Southern grandmother in order to capture a murderous fugitive.
Lawrence plays Malcolm Turner, who is already known to his Bureau
colleagues as a workaholic master of disguise, amusingly established in
an energetic opening sequence. Malcolm and his partner (Paul Giamatti)
are only supposed to plant listening devices in the home of a Georgia
widow, whose granddaughter Sherry (Nia Long) may be mixed up with an
escaped convict who got away with millions in loot. Big Momma leaves
town just when Sherry shows up, not having seen her grandma for a
number of years. In order to keep Sherry from leaving town, Malcolm
digs into his bag of tricks and manages to pass himself off as the
large, elderly matriarch.
Director Raja Gosnell worked as a film editor on "Mrs. Doubtfire," so
he’s already had some experience with the rhythms of a high-energy hero
in drag as a hefty senior citizen of the opposite sex. Lawrence pulls
it off perfectly. Much as we do with Eddie Murphy in the "Nutty
Professor" films, we buy the gender-, age- and size-altered persona
readily. Indeed, often the humor comes less from the notion that we’re
watching a masquerading FBI agent than from seeing the redoubtable old
lady be firm with those around here. (The movie doesn’t condescend to
the character, as the "real" Big Momma is just about as formidable as
Malcolm’s ringer.)
The screenplay by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer, from Quarles’ story,
moves smoothly from one comedic setpiece to the next. The plot dynamics
are clear, although the schematics dealing with the bank
robber/murderer villain couldn’t be more flat. Despite director
Gosnell’s enthusiasm on the audio commentary track, the filmmakers seem
to have so little interest in anything apart from their star that the
movie practically stops every time Lawrence leaves the screen. Still,
Long is a winsome love interest and Giamatti makes a good sidekick.
The sound is decent, though surprisingly little use is made of the rear
channels. Chapter 5 offers a nice rap tune as Martin and his partner
work up the Big Momma look, and Chapter 6 has a very realistic smoke
alarm, mixed with some effectively crackling flames. Chapter 10, which
has one of the film’s funniest scenes – "Big Momma" taking on an
insensitive self-defense instructor – also has a commendably
dimensional gunshot and especially crisp dialogue. However, by the time
we get around to a storm in Chapter 14 and a big church gospel number
in Chapter 15, the lack of substantial presence in the rears is
noticeable. We get a bit of thunder on the former and some handclaps on
the latter, but not nearly enough sound to make us feel that we’re
surrounded, either by extreme weather or by a singing crowd.
The supplemental material includes a makeup test that includes what
seems to be an improvised-on-the-spot cooking riff by Lawrence, a
couple of deleted scenes and an okay outtake reel, along with a
standard "making-of" short.
"Big Momma’s House" is reliably funny and affectionate toward its
characters. It’s not especially original or creative, but it works
admirably on its own terms (apart from its retiring rear channels, that
is).
| more details |
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sound format:
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English 5.1 Surround; English Dolby Surround; French Dolby Surround |
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aspect ratio(s):
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Original 1.85:1 |
| special features: |
Making-Of
Featurette; Audio Commentary Track with Director Raja Gosnell and
Producer David T. Friendly; Make-Up Test; Deleted Sequences with
Optional Director Commentary; Outtakes/Bloopers; "Bounce With Me" Music
Video by Lil Bow Wow; "I’ve Got to Have It" Music Video by Jermaine
Dupri featuring NAS and Monica; Theatrical and TV Trailers; English
Closed-Captioning; Spanish Subtitles |
| comments: |
email us here... |
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| reference system |
| DVD player: |
Kenwood DV-403 |
| receiver: |
Kenwood VR-407 |
| main speakers: |
Paradigm Atom |
| center speaker: |
Paradigm CC-170 |
| rear speakers: |
Paradigm ADP-70 |
| subwoofer: |
Paradigm PDR-10 |
| monitor: |
27-inch Toshiba |
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