Bringing Down the House' actually drags it down

Bringing Down the House has its moments, and they are hilarious, as advertised. Unfortunately, these moments pop up far too infrequently amidst a sea of racial cliches and rehashed humor that dot the film's predictable story line. While House features an all-star cast and all of them shine brightly, they are not quite bright enough to illuminate dim writing.

Steve Martin revives his uptight WASP-y white guy shtick, which has been perfected over the years, as Peter Sanderson, a corporate lawyer who spends more time with his mahogany desk than with his kids. He is dull and dry and does little more than rake in large amounts of money and find conservative things to spend it on, much to the chagrin of his wife (Jean Smart), who left him for the aforementioned reasons.

Peter then finds himself in an internet chat room where he finds himself smitten over a mysterious female stranger who goes by the alias "lawyergirl." However, rather than an Ivy League-educated intellectual, she turns out to be Charlene Morton, an escaped convict, aptly played by Queen Latifah. Upon meeting up, Charlene weasels Peter into helping her on her quest to clear her name, and in order to do so, she must live with him for a while.

Of course, Charlene must keep on the "down low" in order not to arouse the suspicions of Peter's clients, some of whom hold some racial biases usually attributed to old white crusty people. So Charlene ends up masquerading as Peter's maid and nanny.

A fair amount of hilarity ensues from this premise, as Peter learns that not everyone from the hood is clueless about jurisprudence and Charlene learns that Peter really is as exceedingly lame as he appears. Needless to say she loosens him up and even ends up on a date with him where Peter (Martin) breaks out his trademark white guy dance moves after Charlene (Latifah) coerces him out on the floor. Martin and Latifah's chemistry is highly tangible as they shake things up.

The pair then travels back to Peter's house where Charlene tries to teach Peter to talk dirty. This is one of the films funnier moments, however it quickly degrades into a fit of sexual tension with a sight gag where the two are caught on top of each other on the couch by the kids. Of course they were just talking...

However, the comedic highlights of the film all belong to Eugene Levy, who plays Howie Rosenthal, Martin's partner who happens to have a thing for large African-American women. Needless to say, Howie becomes smitten with Charlene at first sight, and attempts to seduce her throughout the film with his impressive command of street language, which is hilariously delivered with a proper corporate affect.

The film reaches a climax as Peter attempts to infiltrate an extremely ghetto club in an attempt to catch Charlene's ex-boyfriend, whom he believes set her up. In a scene that parodies Bullworth, Peter dons street garb, picks up a boom box, and swaggers his way into the crowd of baggy pants and gold chains. Peter even takes to the dance floor voluntarily, and provides a burst of comedy.

Needless to say, after some rigmarole with gun toting thugs, the day is saved, and Charlene is no longer on America's Most Wanted. The next logical step seems to be for Peter and Charlene to ride off into a romantic sunset to live a happy life together, but the movie defies this natural inclination.

Instead, Peter ends up back with his ex-wife, thanks to the reawakening to life that Charlene has given him. This just seems wrong. It's as if Rocky was knocked out by Apollo Creed in Round Eight, and after waking up in the hospital realized he needed to change his life around and decided to run off with Adrienne and become a school teacher. While that says something about boxing, it doesn't change the fact that Rocky would suck with that ending

Bringing Down theHouse spends an entire film showing how two completely different people can overcome race and class prejudice to be happy with each other and develop some serious chemistry, and then throws it out the window. Granted it seems as if Peter and Charlene will still be friends, and Howie seems like he will get what he wants, but the audience does not.