Big Momma's House (2000)

In order to protect a beautiful woman and her son from a robber, a male FBI agent disguises himself as a large grandmother.

Director:

Raja Gosnell

Writers:

Darryl Quarles (story), Darryl Quarles (screenplay)

Stars:

Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti

1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Lawrence	...	Malcolm Turner
Nia Long	...	Sherry Pierce
Paul Giamatti	...	John
Jascha Washington	...	Trent Pierce
Terrence Howard	...	Lester Vesco (as Terrence Dashon Howard)
Anthony Anderson	...	Nolan
Ella Mitchell	...	Hattie Mae Pierce (Big Momma)
Carl Wright	...	Ben Rawley
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

Storyline

FBI agent Malcolm Turner is known best for being a brilliant, master of disguise. Malcolm's latest assignment sends him to small-town Georgia, where he's assigned to trap a brutal bank robber (and a recent prison escapee) who they suspect will be coming down to visit his ex-girlfriend Sherry and her son. Malcolm sets up a stakeout across from the home of a larger-than-life southern matriarch known as Big Momma, who's about to be visited by Sherry. It's a simple plan, but there's one big problem: Unbeknownst to Sherry, Big Momma has unexpectedly left town. So Malcolm, decides to impersonate the cantankerous Southern granny. Using a few tricks of disguise, he completely transforms himself into Big Momma, even taking on the corpulent septuagenarian's everyday routine-from cooking soul food to delivering babies to "testifying" at the local church. In the mean time, Malcolm starts falling for Sherry, who may or may not be hiding some stolen cash. Now, Malcolm/Big Momma must somehow find a ...

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Plot Keywords:

female impersonation | gender disguise | obesity | disguise | fbi | 

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Taglines:

On June 2nd he's deep undercover.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude humor including sexual innuendo, and for language and some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Darryl Quarles came up with the name "Big Momma" based on a childhood nickname that neighborhood kids gave his mother.

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Goofs

The position of Malcolm's necklace while he is talking to Sherry about going on the fishing trip alternates from shot to shot.

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Quotes

Malcolm Turner: [as Big Mommma] Ben, if you wanna get with m-... I mean, you will never get with me understand? And even if i was interested, which I definitely am not! you'd be going about it completely the wrong way.
Ben: Well how am I supposed to go about then?
Malcolm Turner: [as Big Momma] You don't come in a woman's house and lead with ys sha boing boing!

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Alternate Versions

For the UK version the distributor chose to cut eight seconds of violence in the opening martial arts scene, and a head butt in a later scene, in order to achieve a "12" rating. Initial video releases used this same print. All cuts were waived in 2011, and is currently available uncut in the UK with a "12" certificate.

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Connections

Referenced in Black-ish: Bow Knows (2018)

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Soundtracks

Big Momma's Theme
Written by Jermaine Dupri, Tamara Savage, Da Brat, Bryan Michael Cox (as Bryan-Michael Cox) and Caddillac Tah (as Tiheem Crocker)
Performed by Da Brat & Vita featuring Destiny's Child
Produced by Jermaine Dupri for So So Def Productions, Inc.
Co-Produced by Bryan Michael Cox (as Bryan-Michael Cox) for Blackbaby Entertainment, Inc./Noontime Entertainment
Da Brat appears courtesy of So So Def Recordings
Vita appears courtesy of Murder Inc./Def Jam Music Group
Destiny's Child appears courtesy of Columbia Records

User Reviews

Funnier Than I Thought It Might Be

This was a surprisingly good comedy, despite the predictability of it and the typically-sappy Hollywood ending. Nevertheless, this film has a bunch of laugh- out-loud scenes and jokes and Martin Lawrence is a likable guy. He has the ability to make us laugh just by making goofy faces. His best were when he was trapped in the bathroom behind the shower curtain when the real "Big Momma" (Ella Mitchell) was taking a dump a few feet away! The looks of Lawrence's face during that period were hilarious!

Lawrence eventually dresses as a big fat woman and provides laughs doing so. Ever since the early days of television and Milton Berle, people have laughed at men dressing up imitating women. Pretending to be a 300-pound woman makes it even funnier.

Throw in a pretty female lead (Nia Long) and a little drama to go along with the yuks and it winds up being a decent movie.

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 June 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Big Momma's House

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,661,041, 4 June 2000

Gross USA:

$117,559,438

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$173,959,438

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, New Regency Productions, Runteldat Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1