Check This BET review:

"House" is Not Worth The Price of Laughter
By James Hill, BET.com Staff Writer

Posted Mar. 7, 2003 -- Stop me if you've heard this one before: An ultra-hip Black man/woman cons his way into the life of some uptight White professional man/woman and turns their middle-class existence on its ear.

Of course you've heard it before, it's basis of most Black/White buddy comedies. "Nothing to Lose," "House Guest," "Down to Earth" "Trading Places" and now "Bringing Down the House" are based on the American fantasy of Black coolness as savior for White problems. Forget that the country is geared towards helping you achieve success, being White must really suck if you can't win a break-dancing contest or stroll the hood and tell mama jokes. Along with hip-hop and the Harlem shake we show up in dozens of films to supply White folks with that one thing they all seem to be missing - soul. And by soul, I mean the ability to dance or use the word "shizzle" in a sentence. It seems White folks' lives are so empty that they crave for the embrace of big, Black women who will sass them, force them to turn off their brains and let loose.

Which brings us to the real star of "Bringing Down the House" - Queen Latifah's enormous breasts. Latifah's bosom not only symbolizes the non-threatening, Black femininity that ultimately comforts White folks, but it also serves its main purpose of nurturing White folks in need of help. Specifically, it's lawyer Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) who needs to suckle at the teat of cool in order to win his kids' respect and win back his ex-wife's love.

All you need to know about "House" happens in the first 10 minutes of the film. Love-sick Sanderson is rushing to prepare for a blind date he made over the Internet with a blonde, White woman. Only, when he opens his front door he gets Queen Latifah. Actually, that's not true. Sanderson doesn't get Latifah or really a Black woman; he gets Charlene, a collection of every stereotype about Black, aggressive femininity ever created. Charlene (Latifah) is exactly the type of sassy, loud Black woman that White characters both fear and run to for down-home advice. At this point, you either accept Charlene as a harmless piece of movie fiction or you spend the rest of the film pissed. Some of you would say I shouldn't be upset because Latifah's just acting, that it's only a movie. Well, you're right. Unfortunately, acting is exactly what it feels like - there is nothing authentically Black or natural about Charlene. Despite getting producing credit and even revising the script, Latifah doesn't seem comfortable with her lines and all the forced slang sound the clumsy constructions of White writers with only a vague, music video sense of how Black people talk. Charlene is not a character, she's a warped caricature.

However, the film knows it's stepping over the line and concedes by showing us that Charlene is not stupid. In order to explain why a large Black woman is staying at Sanderson's house, Charlene reluctantly agrees to "play" his nanny. Rightfully, Charlene voices her frustration and really hams it up by throwing in some "massa's" "yessuhs" when talking to White folks. But even when safe behind closed doors, Charlene wears the mammy role with pride taking up where Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg and countless other Black actresses left off.

It's not that mammies can't be powerful. Latifah's "Chicago" character Mama Morton is a mammy of sorts, except her nurturing love is really only a facade for monetary self-interest - a silicone breast yielding no milk. But Charlene is mammy to the bone, a Black woman who's own desires are put aside for betterment of her adopted White family.

Predictably, Charlene becomes a surrogate mother to Sanderson's attention-starved children and, in the most disturbing scene, Charlene acts as a surrogate humping-dummy for Martin's libido when she literally offers her bountiful breasts for him to exercise his limp libido on. And why not, we all know nothing genuinely sexual will happen between them. Charlene is Black, after all. Oh sure, the movie plays it off by saying Martin is too distracted by his love for his ex-wife to entertain sleeping with the beautiful Charlene. But cast Julia Roberts as Charlene and Sanderson's ex-wife would be a distant memory.

Ok, forget all the racial politics, is the movie funny? Sometimes. Ultimately, "House" suffers the fate of a lot of mediocre comedies - all its best parts are in the trailer leaving audiences with only one truly funny bit they haven't seen. The hidden gem here is when Sanderson's important client, Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright), an old-money racist, begins singing Negro spirituals at the dinner table. The result is hilarious and you can't help but feel Charlene's rage and Sanderson's embarrassment. But that one nugget doesn't erase the insulting mess around it.

I'm not opposed to racial comedy, if it's good. "Blazing Saddles," a film that drops the word "nigger" more times than a Ludacris record, is positively hilarious. But where "Saddles" pokes fun at racial stereotypes, "House" only works to re-affirm them and ends up being a one-joke movie that constantly asks you, "hey, isn't it funny when White people try to act Black?" Once or twice, maybe. For two hours, not hardly. If that were the case, "8 Mile" would have been the funniest movie of 2002. Instead, Em is a millionaire and no one is laughing.


I really don't see what so offensive about "Bringin Down The House" beside why call it racist since Latifah hereself WROTE the flick?? I don't get it,,,

I don't get it either. I, for one, will be going to see it tonight.

It is certainly funny to me that they are calling the movie racist if it was indeed written by Queen Latifah. :LOL:

whatever...this is stupid to even bring up.

Rhondab said:

And why is that?? If I don't understand something then I'd def "bring" it up so ppl say their opinions about it.

Thats why there're "message boards" so ppl communicate and share thoughts.
[This message was edited Fri Mar 7 8:24:21 PST 2003 by Harlepolis]

Sorry, it doesn't take much reading after "suckle at the teat of cool" to realize that this writer's only writing to impress himself or other reveiwers.

And Rhondab, that's not being very nice. You should live 4 love, not passive flaming.

"Stop me if you've heard this one before: An ultra-hip Black man/woman cons his way into the life of some uptight White professional man/woman and turns their middle-class existence on its ear"

when i saw clips of this on tv...that is exactly what i thought.
it has been done 2 death already!
i just thought from seeing the ads on TV & in tv interviews with Queen,that it is just old & played out.

It seems to be a lighthearted movie, I don't see why people are expecting so much of it.

Honestly, some people just get sick and tired of seeing their own stereotypes used as a source of entertainment... regardless of who's behind it. And, by the way, a person of a particular race is wholly capable of propogating racist attitudes and action against his/her own group.

I don't plan to see the movie, so I won't make a call either way. It's not that I'm offended by the content... it just looks stupid and predictable.

A suggestion to those thinking of seeing BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE: Rent Spike Lee's BAMBOOZLED instead. It's a satire based on the topic at hand. It's really thought-provoking and funny... and probably a better movie from an artistic standpoint.
[This message was edited Fri Mar 7 10:27:49 PST 2003 by Lammastide]