How did The Jerk, aka Steve Martin (Bowfinger), as Peter Sanderson ever become the successful and wealthy tax attorney he portrays in Bringing Down the House. Well, if you buy that one, then the rest of this movie can be plausible. As far as comedy goes, Martin is back to his roots, with his wild and crazy guy routine, only now he is older, grayer and much more mature about it.

So far we know Sanderson is a tax attorney, he is divorced and he is chatting with lawyergirl on the Internet. His chat partner is Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah, Chicago), who is not a lawyer, but doing time in prison for a bank robbery she claims she did not commit. Sanderson has to give up his vacation in Hawaii with his kids because a brown nosed, weasel wants Sanderson's position in the firm and he has to score this multi-million account with some old penny pinching lady, Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright). In the meantime, Charlene is invited over to Sanderson's home. Once they meet this is where the story gets unbelievable, albeit funny. Charlene demands Sanderson's help clearing her name and blackmails him into it. Sanderson's colleague, Howie Rosenthal (Eugene Levy, Like Mike) is infatuated with Charlene and even speaks her lingo. Sanderson's wife Kate (Jean Smart, Sweet Home Alabama) is now dating his former golf caddy, her sister Ashely (Missi Pyle, Josie and the Pussycats) dates only deathbed rich men and gets her ass kicked all over the locker room by Charlene in a Taebo vs. Convict hilarious fight sequence. His teenage daughter Sarah sneaks out to be with her loser boyfriend, while his son Georgey (Angus T Jones, The Rookie) has a problem with reading. Meanwhile the nosey neighbor (Betty White) from across the street is not only a racist, but she is the sister of Sanderson's boss.

This Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner) directed film is laugh out loud funny, but the storyline is more unbelievable than it is even remotely possible that any of this could happen or if it did, the repercussions would be greater than the situation itself. Others in this film were Michael Rosenbaum, Alonzo Bodden, Jernard Burks, Diana Carreno, Jesse Corti, Steve Harris, Victor Webster, Randy Oglesby, Matt Lutz, and Seth Howard. If you are just looking for laughs then Bringing Down the House is your movie. If you want something with substance and taste might I suggest a nice steak dinner because a Steve Martin comedy rarely has taste. I give this movie an eight on the About-Movies.com scale.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:49:29 AM

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