| Bringing Down the House | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Adam Shankman |
| Written by | Jason Filardi |
| Produced by | David Hoberman Ashok Amritraj |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Julio Macat |
| Edited by | Gerald B. Greenberg |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $33 million[1] |
| Box office | $164.7 million[2] |
Bringing Down the House is a 2003 Americancomedy film written by Jason Filardi and directed byAdam Shankman and starringSteve Martin andQueen Latifah alongsideEugene Levy,Jean Smart, andJoan Plowright. The film features Martin as Peter Sanderson, a lonely lawyer who meets a woman on the Internet, only to learn she has escaped prison to prove her innocence. She then proceeds to wreak havoc on his own upper-class life. The film was released on March 7, 2003 byTouchstone Pictures and was distributed byBuena Vista Pictures.
Peter Sanderson is a workaholic tax attorney, separated from his wife Kate and often too busy for their children, Sarah and Georgie.
Peter arranges a blind date at his home with Charlene Morton, a woman he has been chatting with online. Misled by her photograph and description, he is shocked to discover that she is actually a felon who corresponded with him from prison. Charlene tries to blackmail Peter into clearing her name of armed robbery, claiming she is innocent, but he throws her out after several attempts.
Just as Peter is about to meet with a difficult client, Mrs. Virginia Arness, he is ambushed by Charlene, who draws the lustful attention of his friend and colleague Howie Rottman. Agreeing to help expunge Charlene's record and let her stay at his house, Peter lies that she is his nanny. Charlene is disrespected by Kate's unpleasant, gold digging sister Ashley, but subdues her in a vicious locker-room brawl.
Peter takes Charlene to dinner, and Kate is upset to spot them dancing together. Returning home, Charlene coaches Peter on winning Kate back, and they are caught in a compromising position by Peter's bigoted neighbor, his boss' sister Mrs. Kline. Charlene helps Georgie overcome his struggles with reading, rescues Sarah from a party where she received unwanted advances from a boy named Mike and hangs him over the second floor balcony by his ankles and guides Peter toward becoming a more understanding parent and Sarah tells her dad everything that has been going on with her life.
Impressing Kate with his new commitment to spending time with their kids, Peter attempts to invite her over, but is interrupted by a call, to Kate's disappointment. He races home to meet Mrs. Arness, who invites herself to dinner and reminisces fondly about her family's degrading treatment of black servants, angering Charlene. Moments later, a news report appears on the television having broken out of prison, and includes security footage from a bank robbery, appearing to prove that a masked Charlene was responsible for the crime.
Mrs. Arness leaves, refusing to sign the lucrative contract for Peter's firm, Tobias, Kline, and Barnes, and Peter sends Charlene away. At the office, he discovers Mrs. Arness has notified theFederal Bureau of Investigation, and sneaks out to his car. He is threatened by Charlene's ex-boyfriend Widow (Steve Harris), who warns him not to reopen her case, but Peter manages to drive off. Realizing Widow framed Charlene, Peter returns home to ask for his children's help in finding Charlene.
Sarah admits that she gave Charlene Peter's cell phone, which Peter calls and picks Charlene up. He explains that she was set up by Widow, who is likely at a club downtown called the Down Low. Peter drops Charlene off at his house, saying he is returning to the office, but instead, goes to the club. Buying street clothes off a passer-by, Peter enters the club in disguise. Kate arrives at Peter's house to find the children waiting while the FBI searches the premises.
Charlene calls Howie to drive her to the home of Mrs. Arness where she refuses to let Charlene explain herself, leading Charlene and Howie to kidnap Mrs. Arness and her belovedFrench bulldog William Shakespeare. Charlene also punches out Peter's former associate Todd Gendler. Charlene calls Sarah and realizes Peter went to the club, where Peter attempts to blend in, but is captured by Widow.
Peter gets Widow to confess to having committed the robbery disguised as Charlene. Arriving at the club, Mrs. Arness gets drunk and high while Charlene calls the police. Charlene and Howie confront Widow. After a scuffle for his gun, Widow shoots Charlene as the FBI storms into the club. Charlene is saved from the bullet by Peter'stitanium cell phone, and Peter reveals that he recorded Widow's confession on aboombox, leading to Widow's arrest and exonerating Charlene.
Having secured Mrs. Arness as a multibillion-dollar client, Peter and Howie start their own firm, leaving their firm. Moving into their new office, Peter is surprised by Charlene, and they exchange thanks for their impact on each other's lives. Kate arrives, and she and Peter reconcile as his cell phone rings. He tosses it out the window and they kiss. Meanwhile, downstairs, Charlene and Howie appear to do the same.
A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on March 4, 2003 byHollywood Records. It peaked at 111 on theBillboard 200 and 23 on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Bringing Down the House was released onDVD andVHS on August 5, 2003 byBuena Vista.[3]
Bringing Down the House received mixed reviews from critics.[4] OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 33% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "Though the cast shines, they can't save this comedy, which is overly contrived and filled with outdated and offensive racial jokes."[5] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 39 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[6] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[7]
Todd McCarthy ofVariety wrote, "There are certainly good laughs to be had. But the contrived script and bland direction prevent the film from ever developing a comic life of its own, leaving what fun there is seeming like the foundation to a rumpus room that's never finished."[8]
Earning $31.7 million during its opening weekend,Bringing Down the House had the third-highest March opening weekend, behindIce Age andBlade II.[9] On a budget of $35 million, the film became a surprise hit, spending three weeks at No. 1 in the United States. It earned $132.6 million in the United States and an international gross of $32 million, bringing its worldwide gross to $164.6 million.[2]
Queen Latifah
Steve Martin
The film, which got only mixed reviews
