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Bringing Down The House Details

2003 Certificate 12
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 6737 members

Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a divorced workaholic L.A. lawyer trying to forget his ex-wife (Jean Smart). Successful but lonely, Peter falls for an online chat buddy and is eager to meet his dream girl, until he meets the real woman behind the screen name and realises she is not at all like he'd imagined. Instead of a .. Read more

Starring Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Jean Smart
Director Adam Shankman
Genres Audio Descriptive, Comedy

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Bringing Down The House cover art

Bringing Down The House

Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a divorced workaholic L.A. lawyer trying to forget his ex-wife (Jean Smart). Successful but lonely, Peter falls for an online chat buddy and is eager to meet his dream girl, until he meets the real woman behind the screen name and realises she is not at all like he'd imagined. Instead of a svelte blonde businesswoman he comes face to face with Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), a sassy African American ex-con who is eager to infiltrate Peter's stereotypically uptight white suburban world. Charlene wants Peter to defend her and prove she's innocent of a crime that she didn't commit but Peter wants nothing to do with the fast-talking homegirl. However, Peter's geeky best friend Howie (Eugene Levy) feels different and begins to woo the voluptuous diva with "hip" street lingo and hysterically deadpan come-ons. Soon enough, Charlene is shacked up in Peter's palatial estate, throwing wild parties, and opening his eyes to life, love and infectious freedom. Steve Martin and Queen Latifah are a fresh and dynamic comic team in this hysterical spin on the black-white buddy comedy that is a mixture of PRETTY WOMAN and THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR.

Starring Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Jean Smart, Joan Plowright, Missi Pyle, Steve Harris
Director Adam Shankman
Studio TOUCHSTONE HOME VIDEO
Run time DVD: 1 hr 45 mins
Certificate Certificate 12
Genres Audio Descriptive, Comedy
Language DVD: English, English Audio Description
Dubbed Spanish, Russian
Hearing-impaired English
Subtitles DVD: English, Spanish, Swedish, Norewgian, Finnish, Danish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic
Released DVD: 12 Jan 2004
Production year: 2003
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (4) of Bringing Down The House

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  • 1 stars out of 5

    Steve Martin is a maddeningly inconsistent talent. While he's quite capable of delivering pearls of cinematic comedy such as The Man with Two Brains or The Jerk (both of which he also co-wrote), as an actor-for-hire he's also apt to appear in sentimental mush (Father of the Bride) or straight-out unfunny garbage (Sgt Bilko). Unfortunately Bringing Down the House manages to combine the two latter categories with its tale of an uptight white lawyer whose perfectly ordered life is turned upside down by an escaped black female convict (Queen Latifah) who's determined to have him prove her innocence. Martin and Latifah's chemistry feels forced, the usually excellent Eugene Levy is wasted in support and many will detect racism and homophobia — no doubt unintentional but still offensive — in the film's crass manipulation of stereotypes. The only thing that should be brought down on this is the curtain.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Hip black person bursts into the life of stuck-up white person and shakes it all up. Yes, we've seen it before. This... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of Bringing Down The House

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  • 15 out of 17 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    Well, maybe 3.5 Stars.

    Clash of cultures with the brothas and uptight honkey is predictable, but the actors here make it work. I liked it for the most part. Worth seeing if you want light comedy.

      • A customer from London, England
      • Posted 11 Dec 2003 20:25

  • Most recent members' review of Bringing Down The House

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Pleasantly surprised.

    I'm not normally a Steve Martin fan but I hired this to keep the wife happy and was pleasantly surprised.

    It starts of a bit slow but picks up later on and I have to say that I actually found Steve Martin funny in this ... watch out for him posing as an undercover white black man dancing in the bar ... great stuff.

    Definately worth watching.

      • A customer from Belfast
      • Posted 15 Mar 2005 20:45

  • News and features

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    Bringing Down The House

    Aces high for Laurence Fishburne

    • 22 Jan 2007

    Laurence Fishburne, who audiences have seen in many guises including those of Ike Turner and ship captain Morpheus in The Matrix, has signed on to appear in a casino-themed thriller. Also starring Kevin Spacey, 21 is to tell the story of six college friends who are trained to count cards and beat Las Vegas Blackjack tables in order to win millions of dollars. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's widely popular book, Bringing Down the House - although this is not to be confused with the recent... Read more

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Rating breakdown

6,737 Member ratings
  • 100
436
  • 90
405
  • 80
732
  • 70
984
  • 60
1,473
  • 50
954
  • 40
750
  • 30
465
  • 20
351
  • 10
187

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      • Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a divorced workaholic L.A. lawyer trying to forget his ex-wife (Jean Smart). Successful but lonely, Peter falls for an online chat buddy and is eager to meet his ...