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Have you ever seen someone order a particularly decadent dessert,
and then pretty much complain the whole time they're eating it? I'm sure
you know the type. Between every bite is a comment about how fattening
it is, or how bad for them it is, and how they're going to be paying for
this guilty pleasure for however long they think it will take to work it off.
"Bringing Down the House" is turning into that kind of "guilty pleasure"
for a lot of people, and especially the critics among the Politically
Correct crowd. Movie reviewers are essentially apologizing for laughing at this
movie.
I laughed at this movie. I laughed a LOT at this movie, and I am
NOT going to apologize or feel guilty about it in the least. My wife and I
found this movie to be one of the funniest we've seen in a long time, and
subscribing to some PC nonsense to sidestep that would be an insult to the
cast and crew that did a tremendous job making this movie funny.
We are introduced early in the movie to Peter Sanderson, played
by Steve Martin. Peter is one of those "all business, straight arrow" type
of guys who works as a tax lawyer for a large firm. Peter is divorced, and the
movie opens with scenes of him chatting with "Lawyergirl" in an Internet
chat room. "Lawyergirl," whom Peter believes to be a shapely blond white
woman, turns out to be Charlene, a "Rubenesque" black woman, played by
Queen Latifah. Charlene has been spending time in prison on an armed
robbery conviction, and she shows up at Peter's house looking for
assistance in clearing her name. She isn't content with just being out of
prison. She wants her clean record back. Eugene Levy plays one of
Peter's associates, smitten with Charlene from the first moment he sees her.
Betty White, who over the past few years seems to be having a good time
with roles that are a far cry from her naïve "Golden Girls" character, plays
Peter's across the street racist neighbor. Joan Plowright turns in an
incredible performance as the highly conservative but racially insensitive
client Peter's firm is trying to woo.
The impetus for the comedy in this film is Peter's reluctance to
help Charlene, and Charlene's methods for persuading him to do so. I
won't spoil the comedy by revealing some of the lines or gags here, but
suffice it to say, the antics had the theater in a regular uproar. The
magic of this movie lies in the chemistry between Queen Latifah and Steve Martin,
who seem to have no problem swapping roles as "comic" and "straight",
sometimes in the same scene. We get to see some of the classic "Early"
Steve Martin comedy style resurface in this film, and perhaps part of the
fun is that, while he hasn't lost his touch with that style, it's been so
long since we've been treated to it, it's funny all over again. About the only
thing missing was Martin's loud declaration of being a "Wild and crazy
guy!"
The guilt factor that so many reviewers and critics are bewailing is
the perceived "racism" of the film. How so many educated writers can
overlook such a classic method of social commentary is beyond me. Just as
Mark Twain used humor to blast the racist "norms" of the society of his
day in his book "Tom Sawyer," so also is humor used in "Bringing Down
the House" to blast racist problems on both sides of the issue. The
writers, producers, and cast use a funhouse mirror to accentuate those flaws in our
society, and we find them so funny because we recognize them quickly.
We also walk out more aware of how that foolishness looks, and maybe,
just maybe, we'll think a bit more before we embrace it.
"Bringing Down the House" is rated PG-13 for language, sexual
themes, and drug themes. Despite the critics' apologies, it's been doing a
brisk business in the box office, and after seeing it myself, it was easy to
see why. If you're in the mood for some fun retreat from the 6 o'clock News,
take yourself to this movie, relax, and enjoy the comedy. Leave the guilt
at home to watch the News.
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