Short
version:
Bringing
Down
the
House
is
the
funniest
new
movie
I've
seen
all
year.
My
unfortunate
companion
found
it
necessary
to
poke
at
me
at
least
twice
during
the
movie
because
I
was
laughing
loud
enough
to
embarass
her.Theoretically, the basic culture clash premise of the movie might be considered formulaic, but it's all in the execution. It's the details that make it work.
Consider the racial issues with the old white women. The rich heiress client (Mrs. Arness) was just BEGGING for a Charlene (Queen Latifah) slap-down. The old lady may have her personal finance house in order, but Charlene puts her in her place. One of the points where I got poked in the theater was the dinner scene where she wanted Charlene's help in remembering the "Negro spiritual" their family maid used to sing in her youth most of a century ago, something about (singing) "Is massuh gonna sell us today?" Oh, the contortions Charlene/Latifah was going through to stop herself from throttling the woman just killed me.
Then there were the more subtle touches. The Betty White character (sister of Martin's boss) really was a (cheerfully) hateful racist. She just didn't like dark people, and would naturally call the cops if she saw one in the neighborhood "without a leaf blower in their hands." Thinking back through it, by contrast actually Mrs. Arness was really not particularly racist. She was just all around grossly insensitive to everyone, but salvagable. Half the humor of her in the dinner scene was that she had no idea how goddam FURIOUS the black woman would have to be.
Steve
Martin's
performance
at
the
Down
Low
Club
particularly
merits
repeat
viewings.
Really,
the
joke
ends
up
being
how
credible
his
moves
actually
are.
It
was
NOT
a
display
of
self-loathing,
of
the
white
guy
making
a
self-debasing
display
of
how
uncool
he
is
despite
a
desperate
attempt.
In
fact,
the
actor
who
had
the
physical
comedic
skills
to
make
the
film
All
of
Me
has
both
the
moves
and
the
confidence
to
be
quite
competent
at
getting
his
freak
on
out
on
the
dance
floor.Another nice twist was the ex-wife's confidant Ashley. Sure, she's an evil gossip and nasty gold digger, and they got good mileage out of that. What was really funny, though, was her fight with Charlene. OK, big sister from prison and the hood is inevitably going to whip that ass, but the white girl had a lot more fight in her than you might have guessed. It was enough to halfway redeem the character.
Of course, the secret weapon is Eugene Levy. He's having a hell of a year, between this and co-creating A Mighty Wind. As a tax lawyer, who helps his clients with their financial management, Levy plays a man with an intense appreciation for the dark meat, he really takes the cake and commits numerous felonies in the course of proving his love and devotion. His unselfconscious adoption of black lingo in adressing Charlene is just priceless.
Indeed, the best line of the movie is his sincere declaration of love sent through Martin, "Cool points are out the window. You've got me all twisted up in the game." Despite how silly you might expect that to sound coming out of this homely middle-aged white man, it's totally sincere and makes perfect sense.
Queen Latifah must get props for her part in carrying the film. She never made much impression on me as a musician or talk show host, but she did outstanding work here. She worked good with the more physical, slapstick elements, ie the fight with Ashley. She also did well with the more straightforward dramatic moments. She turned out more than competent to hold up her end opposite someone of Steve Martin's high comedic caliber.
