Big Momma's House
Big Momma's House | |
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Directed by | Raja Gosnell |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Darryl Quarles |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Michael D. O'Shea |
Edited by | |
Music by | Richard Gibbs |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes[1] |
Countries | |
Language | English |
Budget | $30 million[3] |
Box office | $174 million[3] |
Big Momma's House is a 2000 American
Big Momma's House received negative reviews from critics, but grossed over $174 million worldwide. Its success led to two sequels: Big Momma's House 2 (2006) and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011).
Plot
Two undercover FBI agents, Malcolm Turner and John Maxwell, find themselves assigned by their boss to track down the escaped convict, Lester Vesco, who was serving a life sentence for murder and the armed robbery of a bank. Malcolm and John learn that Lester may be seeking to find his ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pierce, an employee of the bank who is suspected of supplying him with a key to the vault, as the money that was stolen was never recovered.
Malcolm and John stake out the house of Sherry's estranged grandmother, Hattie Mae Pierce—an obese, elderly
During this time, Malcolm bonds with Sherry and her ten-year-old son, Trent, both in disguise and as himself—posing as Big Momma's handyman. He finds nothing to link her to the robbery, nor to the missing money's location. After attending a church service with them, where he compels Sherry in his disguise to not hold any secrets, Malcolm finds the missing money in Trent's footlocker. This happens after returning home to a surprise birthday party for the real Big Momma. His discovery is witnessed by Sherry, who tells him she had no idea what Lester was planning, and did not report her key was stolen out of fear of being fired.
Matters soon become complicated when John discovers that the real Big Momma has returned home. In his efforts to stop her re-entering the house, John instructs Nolan to lock her out, only for the dim-witted guard to accidentally lock Malcolm out. Lester tracks Sherry down to Big Momma's house and later puts her in danger. Malcolm swiftly breaks into the house, whereupon he tackles Lester and subdues him after John is shot, but at the cost of his disguise being dropped in front of everyone, including Sherry and Trent. After Lester is arrested and the money recovered, Malcolm finds that Sherry and Trent refuse to speak to him, heartbroken by his deception.
Seeking forgiveness, Malcolm attends the Sunday morning church service, where he gives a heartfelt speech to Sherry and Trent declaring he genuinely loves them. Big Momma forgives him for his actions, and the church crowd cheers as Malcolm and Sherry kiss, before Big Momma and the choir sing "Oh Happy Day" during the film's closing credits.
Cast
- FBIagent posing as Hattie Mae 'Big Momma' Pierce.
- Nia Long as Sherry Pierce, Hattie Mae Pierce's granddaughter, Lester's ex-girlfriend, Trent's mother as well as Malcolm's suspect-turned-love interest.
- Jascha Washington as Trent Pierce, Sherry's 10-year-old son.
- Paul Giamatti as Agent Jonathan "John" Maxwell, Malcolm's rookie undercover partner who is highly intelligent.
- Terrence Howard as Lester Vesco, Sherry's criminal ex-boyfriend.
- Anthony Anderson as Nolan, a dim-witted security guard.
- Ella Mitchell as Hattie Mae 'Big Momma' Pierce, Sherry's estranged grandmother.
- Phyllis Applegate as Sadie, Big Momma's nosy and jealous neighbor.
- Starletta DuPois as Miss Patterson, a neighbor and friend of Big Momma.
- Jessie Mae Holmes as Miss Other Patterson, another friend and neighbor with the same surname as Miss Patterson.
- Tichina Arnold as Ritha, a pregnant woman and Nolan's younger sister.
- Octavia Spencer as Twila, Big Momma's neighbor and friend of Ritha and Sherry.
- Nicole Prescott as Lena, Big Momma's neighbor and friend of Ritha and Sherry
- Cedric the Entertainer as the Reverend.
- Carl Wright as Ben Rawley, Big Momma's lecherous boyfriend.
- Aldis Hodge as Basketball Teen.
Production
The film was set in Georgia but filmed in Southern California in early 2000.[4]
The prosthetic makeup was created by Greg Cannom and Captive Audience. Cannom previously created the makeup for Mrs. Doubtfire and Bicentennial Man.[4]
Music
A soundtrack containing
Reception
Box office
Big Momma's House was released on June 2, 2000, and became a surprise hit in its opening weekend in North America, making $25.6 million and becoming the second-placed film behind Mission: Impossible 2 at that time.[5] The film itself would later go on to gross over $117 million at the US box office and just under $174 million worldwide.[3][6]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 30% based on 82 reviews, and an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Big Momma's House is funny in some parts, but it is essentially a one-joke movie."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[9]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, while admitting to laughing at many of the jokes, also felt there were tasteless moments, thinking it could be "redeemed by comedy", such as the opening toilet sequence.[10] Todd McCarthy of Variety praised Lawrence's "engaging" performance and the old woman makeup, but criticised the film's script.[4][11]
The film, and the series as a whole, have been derided as typical of "representations of the big black woman that have appeared in mass marketed comedies" which at the same time devalue the women by casting "male actors wearing Latex
Sequels
The film spawned two sequels in the Big Momma series: Big Momma's House 2 (2006) and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011). Both sequels were lighter and more family-friendly than the original story, but saw reduced takings in the box office, and were panned by film critics.
Home media
The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 28, 2000, EVD in 2002 and a Blu-ray edition was released on September 16, 2011.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Big Momma's House (2000)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "Big Momma's House (2000)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Big Momma's House". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c McCarthy, Todd (June 2, 2000). "Big Momma's House". Variety.
- ^ "Martin Lawrence nearly dethrones M: I 2".
- ^ Source: Box Office Mojo, last visited April 1, 2011.
- ^ "Big Momma's House (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Big Momma's House Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (June 2, 2000). "Big Momma's House Movie Review (2000)". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Morris, Wesley (June 2, 2000). "'Big Momma's House'". SFGate.
- ^ Emily Fox-Kales, Body Shots: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders (2011), p. 154.
- ^ a b Stuart Heritage (November 10, 2010). "Big Momma's House 3: once, twice, three times a fake lady". The Guardian.