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BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE
On June 2nd He's Deep Undercover
2000
Big Momma's House (2000)
Directed by
Raja Gosnell
Writing credits (in credits order)
Darryl Quarles (story)
Darryl Quarles (screenplay) and
Don Rhymer (screenplay)
Cast (in credits order)
Martin Lawrence .... Malcolm
Nia Long .... Sherry
Paul Giamatti .... John
Jascha Washington .... Trent
Terrence Dashon Howard .... Lester
Ella Mitchell .... Big Momma
Anthony Anderson (I) .... Nolan
Carl Wright .... Ben
Phyllis Applegate .... Sadie
Starletta DuPois .... Miss Patterson
Jessie Mae Holmes .... Miss Other Patterson
Nicole Prescott .... Lena
Octavia Spencer .... Twila (as Octavia L. Spencer)
Tichina Arnold .... Ritha
Cedric the Entertainer .... Reverend
Philip Tan .... Kang
Edwin Hodge .... Basketball Teen #1
Aldis Hodge .... Basketball Teen #2
Brian Palermo .... Cazwell
Brian Paul Stuart .... Prison Doctor
Sarah Zinsser .... Receptionist
Sean Lampkin .... Cab Driver
Tony McEwing .... Anchorperson
Sean Thibodeau .... Jud
Ramsey Luke .... FBI Agent
Rosi Rosi .... Nolan's Volunteer
Minnie O. Burton .... Nolan's Volunteer
Rita Fagan-Lewis .... Nolan's Volunteer
John Eddings .... Police Officer
Louis Archie Shackles .... Choir #1
Tameka Holmes .... Choir #2
Ellis Hall .... Organist
rest of cast listed alphabetically
Phil Hawn .... Mailman (uncredited)
Eric Arthur Linden .... Mr. Joblansky
Produced by
Peaches Davis (co-producer)
David T. Friendly
Michael Green (XI)
David Higgins (IV) (co-producer)
Jeff Kwatinetz (executive)
Martin Lawrence (executive)
Rodney M. Liber (executive)
Arnon Milchan (executive)
Aaron Ray (co-producer)
Original music by
Richard Gibbs
Cinematography by
Michael D. O'Shea
Film Editing by
Kent Beyda
Bruce Green (I)
Casting
Nancy Klopper
Production Design by
Craig Stearns
Art Direction
Randy Moore (II)
Set Decoration
Ellen Totleben
Costume Design by
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck
Makeup Department
Greg Cannom .... special makeup effects
Keith VanderLaan .... makeup effects producer: Captive Audience Productions
Production Management
Steven Brown (I) .... production manager
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Graves .... first assistant director
Rodney M. Liber .... second unit director (as Rodney Liber)
Sound Department
Thomas Causey .... production sound mixer
Yann Delpuech .... supervising sound editor
Robert Grieve .... supervising sound editor (as Bob Grieve)
Doug Hemphill .... sound re-recording mixer
Paul Massey .... sound re-recording mixer
Stunts
Ernie F. Orsatti .... stunt co-ordinator (as Ernie Orsatti)
Other crew
Spring Aspers .... music supervisor
Mariko Braswell .... set designer
Charisse Cardenas .... set designer
Jeffrey Jenofsky .... production assistant
Don McCuaig .... director of photography: second unit (as Donald M. McCuaig)
Jacqui Popelka .... production co-ordinator
Jack S. Schlosser .... gaffer
Deborah Simmrin .... unit publicist
Nancy A. Terriberry .... second assistant accountant
Jodi Tripi .... clearance co-ordinator
Susan Granger's review of "BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE" (20th Century-Fox)
If you're a die-hard Martin Lawrence fan, you'll appreciate
this movie. If not, forget it. Lawrence plays FBI agent Malcolm
Turner, who has built a reputation as a master of disguises. When he's
sent to a small town in Georgia to capture a bank robber who's escaped
from prison, he sets up a stakeout near the home of the con's
girl-friend's long-lost grandmother (Ella Mitchell), an old woman
known as Big Momma. Only Big Momma's not around. So Turner decides to
go deep undercover and impersonate the hefty Southern matriarch,
including cooking soul food, singing gospel, even delivering
babies. The result is an outrageous romantic farce because,
predictably, Turner experiences an emotional transformation, falls for
the girl-friend, a single mother played by lovely Nia Long ("Boiler
Room"), befriends her son and struts on the basketball court: "Grandma
knows she's got game!" Of course, when the real Big Momma surfaces, a
stunned onlooker chirps, "Are you the Doublemint twins?" The
screenplay by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer, based on a story by
Quarles, serves primarily as a vehicle for Martin Lawrence's riff on
Eddie Murphy's "Nutty Professor" concept of playing several different
characters. And if it looks derivative, perhaps it's because director
Raja Gosnell served as editor on "Mrs. Doubtfire," while Big Momma's
make-up and prosthetics are the work of "Mrs. Doubtfire" Oscar-winner,
Greg Cannom. Cannom's also responsible for transforming Lawrence into
an Asian man for the opening sequence in which Turner busts an illegal
dog fighting ring. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Big Momma's
House" is a sporadically funny 5 - and, yes, the fat lady sings!
Have I seen this movie: Yes
And what did I think: I was expecting perhaps a bit more from Big Momma's House, but I found it average at the most. Martin Lawrence gives a funny performance here, but the story was weak and so were the characters. Lawrence plays an fbi agent named Malcolm who is tracking an escaped convict. Since he figures that he'll go after his ex girlfriend, Sherry (Nia Long), Lawrence somehow figures out that she'll go to her long last grandmother. She can't be that long lost if everyone seems to know about her. The problem is the grandmother has to leave town, so Martin Lawrence has to assume her identity. While he looks somewhat close to what she really looks like with all the makeup and padding he puts on, he doesn't look exactly like her. I could maybe see why Sherry wouldnt recognize her since they haven't seen each other in awhile. It doesn't explain why Big Momma's friends don't notice the change though. There were other things I didnt quite understand either, like how Sherry's son, Trent, took an immediate liking toward Malcolm out of his makeup as a father figure after only meeting him for a little bit one time. Well, from the flaws this movie has it does have a lot of funny parts too, like the delivery scene where Big Momma acts as the midwife, the karate scene, and the basketball scene. I wouldnt suggest paying $8.50 for this, but rather wait for it to come onto video.
I Give Big Momma's House 3 out of 5 stars
Review written June 27, 2000
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