Plot: What’s it about?
Steve Martin gave a plug at this year’s Oscars for his upcoming movie called Bringing Down the House. It was perfect timing and with his co-star, Queen Latifah, up for an Academy Award; this might be a way for the movie to open bigger than expected. This wasn’t needed, however, as the movie was one of the unexpected hits of last Spring. The formula is pretty simple, actually. Take the two whitest men alive, Steve Martin and Eugene Levy and combine them with a former rapper (she may still be a rapper, I don’t know) and let the movie play itself out. Queen Latifah spoke at my college about 11 years ago back when she was “just” a singer. Now it seems that most every singer/model looks forward to a career on the silver screen as well. No matter…The film has all the elements we’ve seen in countless others just like it. It has funny moments and somewhat predictable moments as well. But there’s an undeniable chemistry between Martina and Latifah that made the movie work.
Martin plays Peter Sanderson, a tax attorney who is on the verge of landing a huge client for his firm. The client, Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright) is the cantankerous old woman we’d expect her to be by just looking at her. Together with her dog, William Shakespeare, she gets most everything she demands because of her net worth. Peter has been recently separated from his ex-wife (Jean Smart), but still sees his kids as his daughter (Kimberly Brown) and son (Angus Jones) from time to time. Recently he has met someone in a chat room who goes by the handle “Lawyer Girl”. Sensing that she is a young, attractive woman (don’t we all assume that) he decides to get personal and ask her out on a date. Imagine his surprise when he finds out that the woman in her “picture” is actually a woman in the background who’s being arrested! Her name is Charlene (Queen Latifah) and she has been trying to get in good with Peter so he can use his skills as a lawyer to help her get her record clean. She’s just been released from jail after 4 years and still swears that she was set up. Naturally, this doesn’t sit well with Peter and when he tries to get rid of her, all Hell breaks loose. This does give an opportunity to his friend, Howie (Eugene Levy) to put the moves on Charlene (a joke in the movie that almost loses its luster, but they don’t overuse it).
Things go from bad to worse and amid all of this, Peter has to try and reconcile with his kids and is still pining over his ex-wife. Charlene is forced to play many roles so that Peter can try and get Mrs. Arless to sign a contract that would guarantee she’d use his firm for all her accounting purposes. Lest we not forget that his neighbor (Betty White) nearly steals the show with her few lines. I don’t want to divulge them here, but suffice it to say that she represents everything that’s wrong with America. Essentially, you can tell a lot about the movie by just looking at the box. Latifah is good, though I felt she was better in Chicago and her chemistry with Martin can’t be denied. Though a bit sappy and predictable, the movie does seem to work as a good romantic comedy; even though there’s not a whole lot of romance in it. What I would have liked to see a bit more of was Ashley (Missi Pyle). Man, she needs more screen time! The fight scene between her and Charlene is arguably the funniest in the movie. Again, words can’t do it justice. This has all the elements of a great movie, but they didn’t quite play out here. It’s entertaining but we’ve all seen it in other films before. A good movie to pass a rainy day by and though it raked in the cash at the box office, I’m sure it will soon be forgotten.
Video: How does it look?
Bringing Down the House has been issued by Disney in both widescreen and full-frame versions. Unlike the “old days” when we got both of those on one disc, you must buy both versions to have them here. The widescreen version was reviewed and the solid-looking 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is really hard to beat. The movie, new to DVD, has several bright spots to it, color-wise and other-wise. Fleshtones appear to be right on track and consistent and edge enhancement is barely existent. The movie seemed to possess a sharpness to the picture that we don’t see except in these new DVD’s. Quite frankly, the only thing that keeps this one from being perfect is some minor compression artifacts from time to time. No complaints here.
Audio: How does it sound?
On the other hand, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is about average for a romantic comedy. If you really want to crank it up, then some of the soundtrack will fill the room and the speakers might even “bump” a bit; but for the most part the film is dialogue-driven. The surrounds do take charge during some scenes, and during the ending scenes in the club, the track takes over. The majority of the action takes place on the front speakers with the LFE kicking in from time to time. Bringing Down the House carries a great and acceptable soundtrack that should please most every viewer.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Cashing in on the popularity of the movie, Disney has released this in two versions. A full-frame version and a widescreen version, the latter was reviewed here. Each of the discs supplements are identical, though. The main draw is a commentary track with Director Adam Shankman and Writer Jason Filardi. The two seem pretty happy and talkative about the film and Shankman evidently loved working with Martin. A good track, though I think only true die hards (or people who are reviewing the disc) will give it a listen. Next up are a couple of featurettes, the first is “Breaking Down Bringing Down the House” which is your standard EPK featurette. Though there are some insights in the interviews, it’s the same “been there, done that” featurette that is seen on almost every DVD these days. What’s a bit more interesting is “The Godfather of Hop” featurette which is a mock that treats Eugene Levy like the king of hip. Though he’s certainly not, it’s fun to see everyone play along and recognize that he is, in fact, the whitest man out there. Seven deleted scenes are shown in non-anamorphic widescreen and a gag reel doesn’t offer too many laughs. Lastly, Queen Latifa’s music video is included “Better than the Rest”. Lastly, should you be so inclined, there’s a DVD-ROM featurette that allows you to register your DVD. Should you be willing, Big Brother (er, Disney) would love to send you email offers and such…
