Customer Reviews

Big Momma's House

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The biggest problem with Big Momma's house is that you can often see just how funny it should be, but the cast and crew are not able to sustain the occasional hilarious parts with any consistency.

It doesn't seem to help that Big Momma's House wants to be more than a comedy. Writers Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer shoot for a combination of a crime comedy ala Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and a romantic comedy. But the core comedy is absurdist, while the mostly serious crime stuff is so underwritten that it would be better absent, and the somewhat serious rom-com stuff is so generic and predictable that it has all the surprise of attending Mass.

To me, the comedy being absurdist is a plus, but it doesn't mesh well with other modes. It's ridiculous, of course, that Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) is trying to pass himself off as "Big Momma" Hattie Mae Pierce (Ella Mitchell). That's a large part of what makes it funny. However, director Raja Gosnell's decision to play the rest of the cast as mostly deadpan is a strange one. It leads the viewer to take the film in a more realist mode, but if you're doing that, you keep asking yourself why anyone else would believe that Turner is actually Big Momma. Gosnell should have gone for another approach during the Turner as Big Momma scenes. It's not that they're never funny, but too often the deadpan interaction breaks the humor.

However, the deadpan attitude works wonders when Mitchell is Big Momma. Mitchell is a fantastic here as a comic actress and especially Paul Giamatti as John is hilarious interacting with her. Once those too-brief scenes ended, I was wishing they wouldn't have, and when they reappeared again at the end, it made me more fully realize how much better they were. A whole film could have and should have been written around Mitchell as Big Momma with Giamatti and Lawrence interacting with her and beautiful co-star Nia Long via some other story.

Even with these problems, Big Momma is an enjoyable film. My wife enjoyed it even more than I did, we're looking forward to watching Big Momma's House 2, and we'll certainly watch this again in the future. But it's a case of moments of brilliance poking through so that you see just how much better it could have been.

I think this is a very very funny movie. Martin Lawrence is at his best in this movie. I know a lot of people didn't like the
bathroom scene.but,i thought it was very funny. All the people in the film are great. i really like nolen the security guard.
he was awesome in the movie. i laughed so hard during the entire film my stomach was sore at the end.the movie is defintly worth
a look a MUST BUY MUST OWN i promise you'll absolutly love it.
another wonderful scene from the movie was when Martin dressed as big momma had to deliver a baby that is hillarious.
Martin is truly at the top of his acting career in this flim.
i think it's the best film Martin has made so far.
Ella Mitchell who played the real big momma is very funny also.
she is a marvelous actress. she has a scene at the beginning of the movie where she finds a dog in her yard she says lord i done told sadie bout this dog. then she picks up the dog and says if i catch you in my yard again i'll barbeque me some hot dog.
very funny. nia long is great also a very beautiful lady and a great actress.
another one of my favorite part's of the movie is when nia boy gets kicked of the basketball court and, Martin dressed as big momma goes to the court and gives the guys at the court a lesson in hoops.
anyway, it's a marvelous movie buy a copy today from Amazon i promise you'll love it. you want be able to stop laughing.
it's a MUST HAVE MOVIE.

I hesitated to go see this movie because I thought it would be terrible and I thought it would be lacking in the "hilarious department".

All I can say is that this was by far one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I enjoyed it so much, that I went back to see the movie twice. Martin Lawrence was very, very funny. I laughed so hard that I was embarassing myself.

This is definitely a "must see" movie.

I'm not usually a fan of movies in this genre, but Big Momma's House is not as bad a diversion as some might have you believe. If you've ever witnessed someone doing or saying something so stupid,low and crass that you had to laugh in spite of yourself, then this movie fits the bill. One of the strongest draws of this movie is its unusually strong cast of talented actors, who make the most out of what they are given. Like most comedies in this vein, you have to suspend your disbelief much of the time: the plot of this situational comedy is highly improbable, but sometimes quite funny. Martin Lawrence won't make you forget Eddie Murphy's star turn in the First "Nutty Professor" remake, but he does have some surprisingly amusing moments impersonating "Big Momma" while in pursuit of a criminal who is on the lam. Nia Long, his love interest, is as cool and ravishing as ever. Ella Mitchell gamely plays the real Big Momma and, best of all, Anthony Anderson is uproariously funny as a bumbling security guard who moonlights giving self-defense classes to elderly women in the neighborhood community center. As most reviewers here have indicated, "Big Momma's House" is definitely not worth agonizing about. It's the film equivalent of pleasantly disposable junk food. It could have been much worse.

My Opinion: When I saw this movie, I had high hopes thinking that it would be funny. Boy was I ever mistaken! This is probably the worst movie of the year. Scored big with teens though because it has what they love --- Lowbrow jokes! What a waste of film.

The Short and Sweet: To make a bust, an FBI agent poses as a 300-pound grandmother.

The Players: Martin Lawrence, Nia Long

The DVD: Not bad. Somewhat deserves Special Edition Label.

Again, Martin Lawrence proves himself a Poor Man's Eddie Murphy with this Witless Effort. A Lame Script, Bad Direction and Actors who constantly look like they've just woken up, give this film a very "Couldn't be Bothered" feeling.

Take a Pinch of "Mrs Doubtfire", a Dash of "Stakeout" and filter out the Action and Comedy. That'll give a Pretty Good Estimation of the Entertainment in store for the Unlucky Viewer.

The One Saving Grace (and the reason for 2 stars instead of 1) is Anthony Anderson, who plays a Wannabe Cop who helps Lawrence out. He makes every piece of Poorly Written Dialogue he has seem like it was written by Neil Simon.

Only Die Hard Lawrence fans need apply, anyone not fitting that description should Spend their hard earned money elsewhere.

When I read the comment at this site about the film, I spontaneously decided to add mine. We saw the film in a lesson of Business English - which seems quite odd - but I really enjoyed it. It was not as flat as I expected, actually it was really funny and romantic. I had not seen a film with Martin Lawrence before and found him really cude. Also his girlfriend "Sherry" is very sexy... And at last, the music was really good: The soundtrack met my favour and the gospel song "happy day": I could not sit quiet any longer... So my opinion about the film is much more positive: I think it's the right film to pass a nice video session with some chips and laughter!!!

this is a really funny movie. martain lawrance at his best. i really can't say anything more this is a good movie. it's a must see

If you like action, this movie has it; it you like romance, this movie has it; and if you like humor, this movie has it. Martin Lawrence portrays the comedy to the hilt, and, surprisingly, he also does an good job of being a suave man pursuing his woman. Nia Long is a beautiful and excellent actress in this film making the romance part so adorable. Terrence Howard's role was done well too. He really can be a scarey character when he needs to portray it. Altogether this film is excellent on so many levels and a must see for anyone who likes the combination of action, romance and humor.

Big Momma's House is far more entertaining than some of the reviews would indicate. Yes, the plot is almost impossible: an FBI agent who is forced to disguise himself as a very large grandmother, in order to track down an escaped killer.

But the film has so many enjoyable scenes. Who can forget lovely Sherry (Nia Long), asking if Big Momma (Martin Lawrence) has another flashlight? The makeup and body padding make Martin Lawrence an awesomely agile grandmother. His basketball back-dunk is something we would all love to see grandmothers be able to do. It's kind of like when we wish we had super powers.

I can't spoil it for you, because there are just so many memorable scenes: like detective Malcolm caught in a tree branch as he slowly sags out of his "granny suit." Or when he somersaults, breaking through the front window, shyly commenting, "I forgot my keys." Or when the reverend (Cedric the Entertainer) discourages Big Momma from talking too much about what happened in the back of an El Camino.

OK--it's kind of kitsch--but it's a whole lot of fun. It will not be considered the greatest movie of the twentyfirst century, but it is an escapist romantic comedy and lots of fun. If you liked films like Mrs. Doubtfire, you'll really like this. Relax and enjoy it.