Bringing
Down
the
House
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.
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
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.
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