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07/01/08
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Bringing Down the House (2003)
35
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:11
Rotten:20
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: Though the cast shines, they can't save this comedy, which is overly contrived and filled with outdated and offensive racial jokes.
Theatrical Release:Mar 7, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $132,541,238
Synopsis: Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a divorced workaholic L.A. lawyer trying to forget his ex-wife (Jean Smart). Successful but lonely, Peter falls for an online chat buddy and is eager to meet his... [More]
Starring: Queen Latifah, Steve Martin, Eugene Levy, Jean Smart
Director: Adam Shankman
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Reviews for Bringing Down the House
Top CriticClick to read the article
05/19/04
Top CriticA comedy that successfully plays with stereotypes, both racial and personal.
04/22/03
Top CriticYou have somebody as smart as Steve Martin, and as smart and appealing as Queen Latifah in a movie like this. To have such an awful, offensive story is a real disappointment.
03/18/03
Top CriticA comedy constructed from tapped-out ideas.
03/14/03
Top CriticA Film in Which Steve Martin Will Appear in Full Hip-Hop Drag With Appropriate Slang for Not Less Than Six Minutes.
03/11/03
Top CriticThe material is thin and pandering and almost criminally negligent in bypassing opportunities for humor.
03/09/03
Top CriticIt's a sorry situation when actors as talented and funny as Queen Latifah and Steve Martin waste their efforts in an offensive exercise that feels like a bad sitcom.
03/07/03
Top CriticThe laughs should roll like thunder, but instead they mew like kittens.
03/07/03
Top CriticThis is strictly formula stuff, made worse by an utterly careless depiction of the characters, whose road to friendship is neither believable nor remotely accounted for.
03/07/03
Top CriticLike one of those overbearing relatives who bursts into the living room, invited or not, and shatters your domestic tranquility with a barrage of soggy platitudes and moldy jokes, both of which he's sure you've never heard before.
03/07/03
Top CriticIt's inspired comic casting with rare feel-good chemistry.
03/07/03
Top CriticWhile Bringing Down the House is far from perfect, it is still guaranteed to get you laughing.
03/07/03
Top CriticIt's depressingly tame stuff.
03/07/03
Top CriticThe movie appears to have been made for an audience that considers the idea of black people terribly exotic.
03/07/03
Top CriticThe sitcom shtick wears thin after a while.
03/07/03
Top CriticThe kind of comedy whose best bits have already surfaced in the coming attractions trailer.
03/07/03
Top CriticA movie where each scene seems to stand in a world of its own: funny; tasteless; stale; very funny; what on earth were they thinking?
03/07/03
Top CriticThere's no shortage of laughs, thanks to some sharp one-liners, two stars at the top of their game, and a solid supporting cast of veteran laugh-getters.
03/07/03
Top CriticAn embarrassment for all concerned, this witless, odd-couple comedy slings separate but equal gibes at blacks and whites... and still manages to ridicule gays and Hispanics.
03/07/03
Top CriticLatest News for Bringing Down the House
April 27, 2007:
Queen Latifah to Star in "All of Me" Remake
Anyone remember a funny old comedy from 1984 called "All of Me"? Steve Martin found himself half-possessed by the ghost of Lily Tomlin? (I actually love this movie.)... More...
March 03, 2006:
Travolta & Latifah to Share "Hairspray"
John Travolta and Queen Latifah have signed on to star in New Line Cinema’s upcoming feature film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Hairspray," it was announced... More...
December 21, 2005:
Critical Consensus: "Dick & Jane" Not Much Fun; "Cheaper" Is Bankrupt
This week's wide releases include a remake ("Fun With Dick and Jane") and a sequel to a remake ("Cheaper By the Dozen 2"). Will critics be laughing at these... More...
September 29, 2005:
Shankman Dances His Way Into "Hairspray" Gig
What's a dance choreographer to do after he graduates to the realm of Profitable Director? Why, he goes back to choreography again, which is precisely what Adam Shankman will be... More...
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