Bringing Down the House (2003)

When a lonely guy meets a woman on the internet who happens to be in prison, she breaks out to get him to prove her innocence, and proceeds to wreak havoc on his middle-class life.

Director:

Adam Shankman

Writer:

Jason Filardi

Stars:

Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy

4 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Peter Sanderson
Queen Latifah	...	Charlene Morton
Eugene Levy	...	Howie Rottman
Joan Plowright	...	Virginia Arness
Jean Smart	...	Kate Sanderson
Kimberly J. Brown	...	Sarah Sanderson
Angus T. Jones	...	Georgey Sanderson
Missi Pyle	...	Ashley
Michael Rosenbaum	...	Todd Gendler
Betty White	...	Mrs. Kline
Steve Harris	...	Widow
Jim Haynie	...	Ed Tobias
Aengus James	...	Mike
Jernard Burks	...	Widow's Bodyguard
Bronzell Miller	...	Widow's Bodyguard

Storyline

Peter Sanderson is a divorced, straight-laced, uptight attorney who still loves his ex-wife and can't figure out what he did wrong to make her leave him. However, Peter's trying to move on, and he's smitten with a brainy, bombshell barrister he's been chatting with online. However, when she comes to his house for their first face-to-face, she isn't refined, isn't Ivy League, and isn't even a lawyer. Instead, it's Charlene, a prison escapee who's proclaiming her innocence and wants Peter to help her clear her name. But Peter wants nothing to do with her, prompting the loud and shocking Charlene to turn Peter's perfectly ordered life upside down, jeopardizing his effort to get back with his wife and won a billion dollar client.

---

Plot Keywords:

william shakespeare character | lawyer | divorce | villain arrested | spanking | 

---

Taglines:

Bring it. March 7.

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor and drug material

Details

Official Sites:

Touchstone site at Yahoo.com

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

In the Houze

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,101,026, 9 March 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$132,716,677

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$164,729,679

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures,Hyde Park Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the commentary, the house that Kate lives in is actually the same house from Father of the Bride (1991).

---

Goofs

On the night of her party that goes wrong, Sarah's hair changes three times in a short amount of time.

---

Quotes

Peter Sanderson: And believe me, Sarah is going places!
[Charlene looks out the window to see Sarah sneaking out and getting into a car with a boy]
Charlene Morton: Oh, she's going places alright.

---

Crazy Credits

Thanks to residents of McCadden Place.

---

Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.64 (2011)

---

Soundtracks

Jungle Love
(1983)
Written by Morris Day and Jesse Johnson
Performed by The Time
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Dire

While it is nice to see Steve Martin rising briefly out of straight-to-video hell, and Queen Latifah is fab, this is nevertheless at best a mediocre comedy with only about one laugh every twenty minutes, and at worst a dire, dirty movie.

As for the whole racism thing (the movie was quite controversial in the States) it's hard to tell who's being targeted: Black people, or White People. Maybe it's all just a satire ... but the movie manages to offend both Whites and Blacks, and is probably best avoided.