Big Momma's House

''Big Momma's House'' is a 2000 crime comedy film, directed by Raja Gosnell, and written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer. The film stars Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent who is tasked with tracking down an escaped convict and his loot, by going undercover as the estranged grandmother of his former girlfriend, unaware of the bond he will form with her. The film also stars Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, and Terrence Howard.

''Big Momma's House'' received mostly negative reviews from critics, but grossed over $174 million worldwide. Its success led to two sequels: '' Big Momma's House 2'' (2006) and '' Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son'' (2011).

Plot

Malcolm Turner and John Maxwell are two FBI agents who are assigned by their boss to track the escaped convict Lester Vesco, who was serving a life sentence for murder and the armed robbery at a bank. Malcolm and John learn that Lester may be seeking to find his ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pierce, an employee of the bank who is suspected of supplying him with a key to the vault, as the money that was stolen was never recovered. Malcolm and John decide to stake out the house of Sherry's estranged grandmother, Hattie Mae Pierce, an obese, elderly African American woman—whom her friends affectionately call Big Momma—in Cartersville, Georgia.

While setting up hidden cameras, Malcolm is forced to hide in a shower curtain when Big Momma rushes to the toilet, causing her to defecate as a result of eating homemade stewed prunes, and later takes a shower, allowing Malcolm to escape from the bathroom. Malcolm and John then finds out through the cameras that Big Momma is about to leave town for two weeks to care for her ill friend at the hospital. Seizing on the opportunity, Malcolm and John create a prosthetic mask and fat suit, so that Malcolm can assume Big Momma's identity and infiltrate the Pierce household. To avoid suspicion, Malcolm must also maintain the real Big Momma's lifestyle. This includes dealing with her lecherous boyfriend, assuming her occupation as a midwife, and attending self-defense classes led by dim-witted security guard Nolan, whom the agents are later forced to recruit when he stumbles onto their operation.

During this time, Malcolm bonds with Sherry and her ten-year-old son, Trent, both in disguise and in his cover story as a handyman hired by Big Momma. He finds nothing to link her to the robbery, nor to the missing money's location. After attending a church service with them, where Malcolm compels Sherry in his disguise to not hold any secrets, Malcolm finds the missing money in Trent's footlocker when he returns home to a surprise birthday party. His discovery is witnessed by Sherry, who tells him she had no idea what Lester was planning and did not report her key was stolen out of fear of being fired. Matters soon become complicated when John discovers that the real Big Momma has returned home. In his efforts to stop her re-entering the house, John instructs Nolan to lock her out, only for Nolan to accidentally lock Malcolm out. Lester tracks Sherry down to Big Momma's house, and, thinking she has betrayed him to the FBI, takes her hostage. Malcolm swiftly breaks into the house, whereupon he tackles Lester and subdues him after John is shot, but at the cost of his disguise being ruined in front of everyone, including Sherry and Trent. After Lester is arrested and the money recovered, Malcolm finds that Sherry and Trent refuse to speak to him, heartbroken by his deception.

Seeking forgiveness, Malcolm attends the Sunday morning church service, where he gives a heartfelt speech to Sherry and Trent declaring he genuinely loves them. Big Momma forgives him for his actions, and the church crowd cheers as Malcolm and Sherry kiss, before Big Momma and the choir sing " Oh Happy Day" during the film's closing credits.

Cast

Production

The film was set in Georgia, but filmed in Southern California in early 2000.

The prosthetic makeup used for Big Momma was created by Greg Cannom and Captive Audience. Cannom had previously created the makeup used by Robin Williams in both '' Mrs. Doubtfire'' and '' Bicentennial Man''.

Music

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on May 30, 2000, by So So Def Records. The film's theme song was " Bounce with Me" by Lil Bow Wow. The soundtrack was also a moderate success and has been certified gold since its release. As well as Lil Bow Wow, the soundtrack featured artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, and Black Dave, whose single ''Go Big Girl'' can be heard briefly in the film. It peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spawned two hit singles, " Bounce with Me" and " I've Got to Have It".

Reception

Box office

''Big Momma's House'' was released on June 2, 2000, and became a surprise hit in its opening weekend in North America, making $25.6 million and becoming the second-placed film behind '' Mission: Impossible 2'' at that time. The film itself would later go on to gross over $117 million at the US box office and just under $174 million worldwide.

In Brazil, the film opened in second place behind ''Gladiator'', making a total of $585,250.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 30% based on 82 reviews, and an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''Big Momma's House'' is funny in some parts, but it is essentially a one-joke movie." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', while admitting to laughing at many of the jokes, also felt there were tasteless moments, thinking it could be "redeemed by comedy", such as the opening toilet sequence. Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' praised Lawrence's "engaging" performance and the old woman makeup, but criticised the film's script. Eric D. Snider said, "It's '' The Nutty Professor'' meets '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', but without the humor of the former or the heart of the latter".

The film, and the series as a whole, have been derided by some as typical of "representations of the big black woman that have appeared in mass marketed comedies" which at the same time devalue the women by casting "male actors wearing Latex fat suits".Emily Fox-Kales, ''Body Shots: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders'' (2011), p. 154. One review of the third film sarcastically commented that the ''Big Momma's House'' series rigidly follows the classic Hollywood trilogy structure.

Sequels

The film spawned two sequels in the ''Big Momma'' series: '' Big Momma's House 2'' (2006) and '' Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son'' (2011). Both sequels were light-hearted and more family-friendly than the original story, but saw reduced takings in the box office, and were panned by film critics.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 28, 2000, EVD in 2002 and a Blu-ray edition was released on September 16, 2011.

References

External links

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2000 films
2000 action comedy films
20th Century Fox films
American action comedy films
African-American films
2000s English-language films
African-American comedy films
2000s police comedy films
Cross-dressing in American films
Films about bank robbery
Films about identity theft
Films directed by Raja Gosnell
Films scored by Richard Gibbs
Films set in Georgia (U.S. state)
Films shot in Los Angeles
20th Century Studios franchises
Regency Enterprises films
2000s American films
Big Momma
English-language crime comedy films
English-language action comedy films