Big Mamma

I was in my early teens when this was released ten years ago, and I never heard of it at the time. In early 2006, I went to the theatre while this movie's sequel, "Big Momma's House 2", was playing, but since I had never seen the original by this point and could see that the sequel was widely hated, it was obviously not the movie I was going to see. Instead, I went to see "The Matador" on that particular trip to the movie theatre. It took me over four years after that to get around to watching the original "Big Momma's House", and just before seeing it, I had low expectations, thinking it would probably be a very unfunny comedy, even if it wasn't absolutely terrible. However, while it's unsurprisingly not that great, I did laugh.

Malcolm Turner is an FBI agent who is very skilled in disguising himself for undercover operations. After it is announced that a murderer and robber named Lester Vesco has just escaped from prison, where he was serving his life sentence, Malcolm and fellow FBI agent John Maxwell are sent to catch him. The FBI believes that the criminal's ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pierce, was also involved in criminal activity, but they haven't been able to prove it. Malcolm and John go to the neighbourhood in Georgia where Sherry's morbidly obese grandmother, Hattie Mae Pierce (a.k.a. Big Momma) lives, and begin to spy on her. Sherry is on her way to her grandmother's house with her son, Trent, but before they arrive, Big Momma leaves town unexpectedly, so Malcolm decides to pose as the feisty elderly woman! He takes on her lifestyle while trying to get the truth from Sherry, and also finds himself falling for the criminal's ex-girlfriend!

Before it is announced that Lester has escaped from prison and Malcolm and John go to spy on Big Momma's house, the film begins with the two FBI agents busting a dog fight, and I guess parts of this sequence are somewhat funny, but no more than that. The film continues to be mostly straight-faced after this, as we learn about the escaped prisoner, the two agents are sent on their mission, and Malcolm disguises himself as Big Momma. The early part where Malcolm has to hide in the shower while Big Momma defecates is memorable, but not in a good way. For a while, it didn't seem like I would be able to give "Big Momma's House" a rating higher than 5/10. I frequently snickered, but it didn't look like I would ever find any BIG laughs in the film. However, that eventually changed. While it's still not that consistent later on, it certainly can be funny with the things Malcolm has to do while in disguise, including a baby delivery. The scene with Sherry seeing Malcolm as himself and the FBI agent claiming to be a handyman is also a really funny part. The story and characters can also be interesting.

This 2000 release is definitely not generally considered one of the great modern-day comedies, and after seeing it, I can understand why, but I've seen much worse excuses for comedy. I wouldn't have been too surprised if I had thought "Big Momma's House" was really lame when I watched it, but while I'm sure many people think it is, I can't say I do. It is uneven, but sometimes funny. Also, there isn't nearly as much juvenile toilet humour in the movie as that one defecation scene suggests! Martin Lawrence plays the lead role here. I haven't seen him in any other film and have only seen a bit of his stand-up comedy, so I'm not that familiar with his work, but think he does a pretty good job with his performance here. This film is a little cheesy and doesn't have the most original plot, and more thought could have been put into the ending as well, but if you want a silly, raunchy comedy, this particular one might work, at least in some parts.

When you have a movie with a title like "Big Momma's House", you shouldn't expect high art. I certainly wasn't, but sometimes that's okay - sometimes you just want an excuse to laugh.

Still, I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed with what they did here. The fault lies with the screenplay. For starters, it is not exactly original. While I wouldn't call this movie a blatant rip-off of "Stakeout", in several regards it's too close to that earlier movie for its own good. Speaking of familiar, another problem I had was that too many of the gags involving Lawrence as the cross-dressing FBI agent I had more or less seen in other movies before. Plus, the movie devotes far too much time to this than fleshing out the story - if what's here could be considered a story.

On the positive side, the movie is filled with energy, both in front of and behind the camera. There's enough energy that some viewers not wanting to think while watching a movie might find the enterprise enjoyable enough. If that sounds like you, you'll probably find this movie adequate. If you want more nutrition in your cinematic diet, look elsewhere.

Martin Lawrence is often trusty in the world of comedy. Maybe I'm just overcoming his awful "Blue Streak," but I felt this comedy--though saggy at times--was quite funny. The premise is undoubtedly implausible. How's a whole neighborhood going to believe that this undercover cop with a latex body that looks somewhat like Big Momma is actually Big Momma? There's a lot of disbelief to suspend. But the gags often worked and I can say I laughed about 75 percent of the time. Some are predictable, like when Big Momma takes a karate class and starts beating the teacher--played by Anthony Anderson--to a pulp, but they still work due to the way they're handled. And Lawrence turns in yet another fine comic performance, with a script that could've used a rewrite but was nowhere near as bad as the crackerjack script he had to work with in "Blue Streak." The talented comic helps keep the movie togehter, with a little assistance from the supporting cast. Paul Giamatti, who was great as Pig Vomit in the acclaimed "Private Parts," is funny as Lawrence's partner. We also have "Me Myself and Irene's" Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer.

The plot is chaotic, sometimes predictable, and becomes more and more implausible by the minute but the comedy works and because of that we're able to excuse the script's shortcomings. "Big Momma" doesn't deliver the biggest laughs, but it's good, fun entertainment on a lonely weekday afternoon.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

Martin Lawrence goes undercover in a suburb of Georgia as an overweight southern grandmother in "Big Momma's House". It's up there with "Black Knight" and "Blue Streak" as a ridiculous, predictable and stupid yet charmingly funny Martin Lawrence vehicle. Some of the dialog is almost non-sensical and seems to rely on Martin Lawrence's improvisational, uh... skills. Of course, why nobody recognizes that their friend/mother (Big Momma) is being impersonated horribly, I don't know. But that sort of adds to the movie I guess.

The story here doesn't matter that much. Really, it doesn't. Paul Giamatti plays the signature goofy white partner, who occasionally gets pushed around by the neighborhood locals to much comedic success (it is actually pretty funny, if predictable, like everything else here). Nia Long reprises her typical role as the love interest, and then a bunch of goofy physical stunts are taken from "Mrs. Doubtfire" and given a slightly different flair -- playing on southern black stereotypes (deep fried home cooking, going to church, etc.).

This movie is cheesy and ridiculous. I don't think you even need to watch the whole thing, nor watch it twice (though there is a sequel, and seeing that would basically be watching this movie twice). But for what it is, it's pretty goofy and entertaining.

4.5

Old school fun. Action. A movie you can watch on a Friday night for a laugh.