Big Momma's House (2000)
Directed by Raja Gosnell
When a street-smart FBI agent is sent to Georgia to protect a beautiful single mother and her son from an escaped convict, he is forced to impersonate a crass Southern granny known as Big Momma in order to remain incognito.
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What critics say influenced Big Momma's House
The story (what there is of it) is a thin stew of shamelessly stolen ingredients, one part Mrs. Doubtfire , one part Nutty Professor , one part Tootsie , five parts idiocy.
Borrowing heavily from The Nutty Professor and Mrs. Doubtfire (not to mention, of course, the grand "mama" of them all, Tootsie), this film serves up heapin' helpin's of fat jokes, sex jokes, and scatological humor, wrapped around a thin plot involving FBI agents trying to nab a bank robber.
The hackneyed, unbelievable script by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer is mild on originality and inspired as a skewered transmutation of Stakeout and Kindergarten Cop, with a pinch of MacGyver (a.k.a.
Lawrence excels as Big Momma, and rises above the film's unremarkable direction (care of Raja Gosnell, of Home Alone 3 fame), substandard dialogue (screenplay by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer), and a plot cribbed mercilessly from Kindergarten Cop.
The story (what there is of it) is a thin stew of shamelessly stolen ingredients, one part Mrs. Doubtfire , one part Nutty Professor , one part Tootsie , five parts idiocy.
Borrowing heavily from The Nutty Professor and Mrs. Doubtfire (not to mention, of course, the grand "mama" of them all, Tootsie), this film serves up heapin' helpin's of fat jokes, sex jokes, and scatological humor, wrapped around a thin plot involving FBI agents trying to nab a bank robber.
Beyond that, Big Momma's House is a Mrs. Doubtfire wanna-be.
Big Momma's House lacks charm, but is a lot better than Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), another cross-dressing comedy on which Gosnell was editor.
Mrs. Doubtfire represents the first of the ‘bodysuit’ comedies (The Nutty Professor and Big Momma’s House are later examples) that became popular – at least among comedic actors – and it features some of the most prominent and visible San Francisco locales since Hitchcock presented Vertigo .
And in ''The Nutty Professor,'' Eddie Murphy had a mimic's feast playing the gentleman blimp Sherman Klump and his cantankerous chorus of relatives.
Borrowing heavily from The Nutty Professor and Mrs. Doubtfire (not to mention, of course, the grand "mama" of them all, Tootsie), this film serves up heapin' helpin's of fat jokes, sex jokes, and scatological humor, wrapped around a thin plot involving FBI agents trying to nab a bank robber.
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Raja Gosnell (who previously directed the timeless Home Alone 3 ) directs the film like one of those airport runway workers with the large lighted paddles he just wigwags a seemingly endless line of sitcom-level gags past the audience in hopes that something will eventually register.
And surely the concept of a man in drag in search of himself is not news, here refitted by writers Darryl Quarles (Soldier Boyz) and Don Rhymer and director Raja Gosnell (Never Been Kissed, Home Alone 3) into a series of mostly unrelated scenes that showcase Lawrence's comedic flexibility and charisma.
Director Raja Gosnell, a longtime film editor who also helmed "Home Alone 3" (mind you, I don't think I knew there was a "Home Alone 3"), keeps the comic beats coming, transforming Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer's predictable screenplay into an efficient gag-delivery system.
Lawrence excels as Big Momma, and rises above the film's unremarkable direction (care of Raja Gosnell, of Home Alone 3 fame), substandard dialogue (screenplay by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer), and a plot cribbed mercilessly from Kindergarten Cop.
As directed by Raja Gosnell (also responsible for the grating "Never Been Kissed" and "Home Alone 3"), Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer's formulaic script is most amusing when the hook is pushed to the extreme, such as when the fake Big Momma kicks butt in a women's self-defense class or hangs on the rim after stuffing a basketball in a street pick-up game.
More often than not he fights a losing battle against insipid jokes, sloppy direction by Raja Gosnell (who called the shots on the similarly lame "Home Alone 3") and all-around dopiness.
And surely the concept of a man in drag in search of himself is not news, here refitted by writers Darryl Quarles (Soldier Boyz) and Don Rhymer and director Raja Gosnell (Never Been Kissed, Home Alone 3) into a series of mostly unrelated scenes that showcase Lawrence's comedic flexibility and charisma.
Most cop-buddy films dally in homoeroticism and homophobia (usually at the same time: see the Lethal Weapon series or Lawrence's Bad Boys, for that matter), but Big Momma's House elaborates on this formula by making just about every sexual encounter potentially homoerotic, for both genders.
Unfortunately, he's dealing with a director (Raja Gosnell of "Never Been Kissed") whose idea of comedy is to play things as loudly and frantically as possible; he also encourages Lawrence's worst tendencies.
And surely the concept of a man in drag in search of himself is not news, here refitted by writers Darryl Quarles (Soldier Boyz) and Don Rhymer and director Raja Gosnell (Never Been Kissed, Home Alone 3) into a series of mostly unrelated scenes that showcase Lawrence's comedic flexibility and charisma.
Director Raja Gosnell ("Never Been Kissed") obviously knows how to move his scenes along, and he keeps the film engaging by distracting you from it's weaker points.
As directed by Raja Gosnell (also responsible for the grating "Never Been Kissed" and "Home Alone 3"), Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer's formulaic script is most amusing when the hook is pushed to the extreme, such as when the fake Big Momma kicks butt in a women's self-defense class or hangs on the rim after stuffing a basketball in a street pick-up game.
Big Momma's House is directed by Raja Gosnell, who took a similar premise with Never Been Kissed (1999) and made it work charmingly.