DVD Review | Bringing Down The House
Written by: Kage Alan

I remember first seeing the trailer for “Bringing Down The House” and thinking I absolutely HAD to see the film!  Some of Steve Martin’s early movies, while having a large following, weren’t my cup of tea and it wasn’t until “All Of Me” that I really began to appreciate him as an actor.  I wasn’t really familiar with Queen Latifah as much (I hadn’t seen her in “Chicago” yet), so it turned out to be the presence of Eugene Levy that clinched it for me too.  It just seemed like it would impossible to lose with that much comedic talent on the screen.

Divorced tax attorney Peter Sanderson (Martin) leads a rather dull life.  He’s very good at his job, only that’s all he’s good at.  His relationship with his two children as well as his ex-wife (Jean Smart) has been suffering probably since it began and shows no signs of getting any better.  When an opportunity to go to Hawaii and spend some quality time with his kids is put on the back burner because a rich old heiress is looking for a new firm to represent her, it’s going to take a higher power to intervene and show Peter the error of his ways.  That higher power turns out to be Internet chat buddy “Lawyergirl”, Charlene (Latifah). 

While Peter is expecting a nice blonde woman to show up at his door for his blind date, he gets a fugitive from the law who wants nothing more than to clear her name for a crime she says she didn’t commit.  He’s not crazy about helping her, but Charlene inserts herself into his uptight life and won’t budge until he agrees to help.  Throw in a bitchy ex-sister-in-law, a prejudice old neighbor across the street (Betty White) and a co-worker (Levy) who is utterly smitten with Charlene (aka his “Coco Goddess) and it’s a clash of cultures, ideas and being oneself in a world that expects the exact opposite.

Why so many critics were lukewarm towards the film is puzzling.  What were they expecting?  While some were critical of how Charlene was portrayed as an African American being subjected to stereotypical white culture, Queen Latifah was an Executive Producer on the film and I find it difficult to believe she would have done anything that seemed questionable to her.  No, this is meant to be a fun movie with some laughs and messages about family, which is exactly what it is.  There are some hysterical moments as well as some tender ones and it makes for a wonderful mix.

Touchstone, a company I haven’t always been impressed with regarding their transfers, has delivered a very nice looking Widescreen transfer of “Bringing Down The House”.  Video quality is fairly solid and the audio matches.  They’ve done a solid job here, so good going gang.  As expected considering the popularity of the film, the studio has seen fit to deliver some extras.  There’s “Da Commentary” with Director Adam Shankman and Writer Jason Filardi.  The two are kind of goofy together and it doesn’t always work, but there’s enough information shared to make it worth listening to.  Beyond that, there are some deleted scenes (8 ½ min), a mediocre 4 minute gag reel, a 16 ½ minute behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Breaking Down Bringing Down The House”, another featurette with Eugene Levy titled “The Godfather of Hop” (3min) and, finally, a music video by Queen Latifah for “Better Than The Rest”.

I believe there have been some murmurings about a sequel being in the works for this film or at least another pairing of Martin and Latifah, which would be great to see.  The two have some terrific chemistry on the screen.  It’s a shame that some wonderful pairings in cinema rarely find another project together.  As for this film, it’s hard to go wrong with “Bringing Down The House”.  Just be aware that it’s rated PG-13 for a reason and may not be suitable for kids younger than that.  Enjoy!

Film Rating: B
DVD Special Features: B