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Editorial Reviews
From The New Yorker
Another strained urban comedy, this one starring Martin Lawrence as an F.B.I. agent who dresses in three-hundred-pound drag to catch an escaped convict. What separates this film from the genre's usual fodder is a particularly strong cast: Lawrence, along with Paul Giamatti, Nia Long, and the always exceptional Terrence Howard, gives the film a vulgar energy. It's a shame that their efforts are wasted on a script that's an intermittently funny cut-and-paste job, taking elements from earlier popular movies ("Mrs. Doubtfire," "The Nutty Professor"). An actor as dangerously funny as Lawrence deserves better. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Product Description
Disguise is the limit. "Martin Lawrence brings down the house" (E! Online) as crafty FBI agent Malcolm Turner who's willing to go through thick and thin in order to catch an escaped prisoner. "Nia Long is captivating" (Checkout.com) as Sherry, the con's sexy former flame - she might have the skinny on millions in stolen loot, and she's headed for Georgia to lay low for a while. That's enough to send Malcolm deep undercover as Big Momma, an oversized, overbearing Southern granny with an attitude as tough as her pork chops. The result is an outrageous comedy of epic proportions, filled with nonstop laughs and plenty of action!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
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.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
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.
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.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
big momma
I watch Big Momma's house every time i git a chanes i get.
I thank the movie is funny and very intertaing. Read more
I thank the movie is funny and very intertaing. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Russell Saffer
Good movie
This is a funny movie. Martin is a good actor. He can play any one and make a hit. You must give this movie a chance.
Published 2 months ago by Sugga40827
One you can't miss!
This is one hilarious movie. The story line is great and although it is very funny most of the time, this movie keeps the emotions very active. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Connie B
Definitely the best of the trilogy
Martin Lawrence does a good job in this film as he pulls on a fat suit in his role as an undercover agent who must disguise himself as a rotund matron to get some information and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by M
Big Comedy
This is a entertaining movie if you ask me. I enjoyed this, It funny and the story is good. Martin knows comedy! Black mrs doubtfire lol
Published 18 months ago by Carl Mickens
very satisified
This movie is Great! It is funny! The movie arrived quickly and in wonderful condition...........very delighted with the Company.
Published 23 months ago by J. Fineman
Big Momma's House
When a street-smart FBI agent is sent to Georgia to protect a beautiful single mother and her son from an escaped convict, he is forced to impersonate a crass Southern granny known... Read more
Published on January 5, 2010 by TREND700
Mediocre at best
This isn't really Martin Lawrence's best work, but it's not his worst, either. It's very average, with both funny and unfunny jokes here and there. Read more
Published on October 12, 2009 by Eric S. Kim
An Awesome Comedy!!!
This is a very funny movie that stars Martin Lawrence as F.B.I. agent Malcolm Turner who goes undercover as a grandma named Hattie Mae Pierce. Read more
Published on June 9, 2009 by Pumpkin Man
I did not expect very much but was surprised!
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... Read more
Published on October 9, 2008 by Gwyneth Sergio
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