Big Momma's House

Big Momma's House
An overweight woman in a red dress, carrying a big brown bag, and fixing her dress while walking towards a house.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaja Gosnell
Screenplay by
Story byDarryl Quarles
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMichael D. O'Shea
Edited by
Music byRichard Gibbs
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox[1]
Release date
  • June 2, 2000 (2000-06-02)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]
Box office$174 million[3]

Big Momma's House is a 2000[4] crime comedy film, directed by Raja Gosnell, and written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer. The film stars Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent who is tasked with tracking down an escaped convict and his loot, by going undercover as the estranged grandmother of the convict's former girlfriend, unaware of the bond he will form with her. The film also stars Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, and Terrence Howard.

Big Momma's House was released by 20th Century Fox on June 2, 2000. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, but grossed $174 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. Its success led to two sequels: Big Momma's House 2 (2006) and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011).

Plot

Malcolm Turner is an FBI Agent, who is celebrated by his colleagues and other groups, of his distinct ability to be in disguise in such missions. Agent Turner and fellow colleague John Maxwell are ordered to find escaped convict, Lester Vesco, who was serving a life sentence for murder and 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 decide to stake out the house of Sherry's estranged grandmother, Hattie Mae Pierce, an obese, elderly African American woman—whom her friends affectionately call Big Momma—in Cartersville, Georgia.

John finds an available house where he can set his camera systems, while Malcolm is installing the responding-system in the house of Big Momma. While Big Momma and her neighbors greet John, who poses as an actual new city resident, it is announced that Big Momma is dealing with her stomach hurting. Upon this, Big Momma rushes to the house while expressing about her stomach hurting, in which John attempts to distract her while Malcolm is installing the camera and audio systems, with John giving the excuses of attempting to welcome her and expressing that jogging is a remedy of stomach pain. After arriving at the bathroom, Malcolm had already been hiding in the shower curtains, while Big Momma passes flatulence-stricken diarrhea, as a result of eating stewed prunes. As a being outside and the possibly due to the effects of the diarrhea, Big Momma turns on the shower while Malcolm is in there, and she gets in it after disrobing, in which she sings the beginning of "Oh Happy Day," with Malcolm escaping the shower and the bathroom to avoid being "caught."

Later that night, Malcolm and John are in the house that the pair are using, and discover through the system that Big Momma is about to leave town for weeks, to care for her ill friend. Sherry subsequently calls phone Big Momma uses, and Malcolm attempts to voice mimicry. John expresses his disappointment in what Malcolm had done, and expresses the urgency of how Big Momma not being inside the house, would prompt the mission to be disbanded. Malcolm expresses his idea that could expand the act of his phone voiceover. The pair creates a prosthetic mask and fat suit, so that Malcolm can assume Big Momma's identity. Sherry and her 10-year-old son Trent arrive at the house the subsequent day, and Malcolm in the identity, welcomes them in. To avoid suspicion, Malcolm must maintain the same expectations of Big Momma. This results to dealing with her lecherous boyfriend, assuming her occupation as a midwife, and attending self-defense classes led by dim-witted security guard Nolan, whom the agents are later forced to recruit when he stumbles onto their operation.

During this time, Malcolm bonds with Sherry and Trent, both in disguise and in his cover story as a handyman hired by Big Momma. However, he finds nothing to link her to the robbery, nor to the location of the missing money. One Sunday morning, John visits Malcolm in the bedroom that Malcolm slept in, while in the role of Big Momma. Trent tells Malcolm about attending church service, in which John quickly hides underneath and adjacent to the bed. John reminds Malcolm that even in admiring Sherry, of how he should still not depart his role in attempting to find hidden aspects that revolves Sherry or Lester. Malcolm resumes his role as Big Momma and arrives to the church service with Sherry and Trent. During the service, the Reverend prompts Big Momma (who Malcolm is still disguised as) is prompted to give a message, like it was planned during with the real Big Momma. Malcolm expresses of the potential dangers of secrets, with "exaggerated" and vulgar implementations. While continuing the message, this leads to a selection of "Oh Happy Day," in which Malcolm and the choir leads.

During the surprise birthday party for Big Momma, which was after the church service, Malcolm finds the missing money footlocker that Trent owns. His discovery is witnessed by Sherry, who felt compelled to tell that she had lacked the idea of what Lester was planning and did not report her key was stolen out of fear of being fired. While the party is ongoing, John discovers that the real Big Momma has returned to the house. In his efforts to stop the real Big Momma from re-entering the house, John instructs Nolan to lock her out, but only for Nolan to unknowingly lock Malcolm out instead. Meanwhile, Lester tracks Sherry down to Big Momma's house, and takes in Sherry and Trent, with the trio preparing to leave the setting. In this occurrence, the actual Big Momma sees Sherry, where she expresses awe of seeing her after periods. Sherry believes this is the other variant of Big Momma, and frighteningly tells her how she have to leave. Nolan notices the visible gun which is located on of Lester's pants, and attempts to put Lester in gunpoint, much to Nolan failing. When Lester attempts to retaliate, Malcolm swiftly enters in, breaking the windows. After the two "Big Mommas," notice each other in confusion, John catches Lester, leading to the fight in the surrounding confusion. Malcolm tackles Lester, but at the cost of his facemask being ruined. When Lester destroys the mask, Malcolm expresses his anger by subduing him. Trent leaves the scene, in shock of seeing Malcolm. Lester gets up from the floor and threatens Malcolm with a gun, in which Malcolm knocks Lester out from the window. Lester is arrested by the police and John is taken to the hospital after he was shot. Malcolm attempted to tell his reasons for the disguise to Sherry, in which she is dismissive.

Malcolm during one Sunday Morning, is on a phone call, on the topic of delivering a testimony. However, Malcolm is seen attending church service, where he gives a speech to Sherry and Trent, declaring that he genuinely loves them and indirectly explaining his previous actions. Big Momma responds by forgiving Malcolm for his actions, and the church crowd cheers as Malcolm and Sherry kiss, while Big Momma and the choir sings Oh Happy Day during the end credits.

Cast

  • Martin Lawrence as Malcolm Turner, an undercover FBI agent.
  • Nia Long as Sherry Pierce, Malcolm's suspect-turned-love interest.
  • Paul Giamatti as Agent Jonathan "John" Maxwell, Malcolm's rookie undercover partner
  • Terrence Howard as Lester Vesco, Sherry's criminal ex-boyfriend.
  • Anthony Anderson as Nolan, a dim-witted security guard.
  • Jascha Washington as Trent Pierce, Sherry's 10-year-old son.
  • 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.
  • Edwin Hodge as Basketball Teen #1
  • Aldis Hodge as Basketball Teen #2

Production

After working on his newest release, Never Been Kissed, Raja Gosnell was commissioned to direct the film in July 1999.[5] The film was set in Georgia, but filmed in Southern California in early 2000.[6] Production was originally set to begin on October 10, 1999, but was delayed when Martin Lawrence was rushed to the hospital after collapsing in sweltering heat while running with multiple layers of clothing to lose weight for the role.[7]

Nia Long was cast in the film after she chose not to portray the role of Alex Munday in Charlie's Angels.[8] The prosthetic makeup used for Big Momma was created by Greg Cannom and Captive Audience. Cannom had previously created the makeup used by Robin Williams in both Mrs. Doubtfire and Bicentennial Man.[6]

Music

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on May 30, 2000, by So So Def Records. The film's theme song was "Bounce with Me" by Lil Bow Wow. The soundtrack was also a moderate success and has been certified gold since its release. As well as Lil Bow Wow, the soundtrack featured artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, and Black Dave, whose single Go Big Girl can be heard briefly in the film. It peaked at number 41 on the Billboard 200 and number 12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spawned two hit singles, "Bounce with Me" and "I've Got to Have It".

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.[9] Upon opening, it had the highest opening for a Martin Lawrence film, surpassing Life.[10] The film itself would later go on to gross over $117 million at the US box office and just under $174 million worldwide.[3][11]

In the UK, the film premiered in second place behind Gladiator, collecting $1.2 million during its opening weekend.[12] It would also rank second behind that film in Brazil, making a total opening gross of $585,250.[13] The film opened in Australia in second place below Scary Movie with $901,000 from its first weekend.[14]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 31% based on 80 reviews, and an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Big Momma's House is funny in some parts, but it is essentially a one-joke movie."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

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.[18] Todd McCarthy of Variety praised Lawrence's "engaging" performance and the old woman makeup, but criticized the film's script.[6][19] Eric D. Snider said, "It's The Nutty Professor meets Mrs. Doubtfire, but without the humor of the former or the heart of the latter".[20]

The film, and the series as a whole, have been derided by some 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 fat suits".[21] One review of the third film sarcastically commented that the Big Momma's House series rigidly follows the classic Hollywood trilogy structure.[22]

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 light-hearted 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, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[23] The THX certified DVD version features behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, an audio commentary, a theatrical trailer, a preview for Me, Myself & Irene, TV spots and two music videos.[24] A Blu-ray edition was released on September 6, 2011.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Big Momma's House (2000)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Big Momma's House (2000)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Big Momma's House". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lealos, Shawn (November 4, 2024). "Martin Lawrence's 10 Best Movies And TV Shows". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  5. ↑ Petrikin, Chris (July 27, 1999). "Under construction". Variety. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 McCarthy, Todd (June 2, 2000). "Big Momma's House". Variety. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  7. ↑ Fleming, Michael (September 1, 1999). "Fox's Lawrence pic on hold". Variety. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Nia Long says she wasn't cast in 'Charlie's Angels' because she looked 'too old' next to Drew Barrymore".
  9. ↑ "Martin Lawrence nearly dethrones M: I 2". Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  10. ↑ Variety Staff (June 4, 2000). "Big 'Momma' bow puts drag on 'Mission'". Variety. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  11. ↑ Source: Box Office Mojo Archived July 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, last visited April 1, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Big Momma fails to topple Gladiator".
  13. ↑ Woods, Mark (June 19, 2000). "O'seas B.O. plays in Lawrence's 'House'". Variety. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  14. ↑ Groves, Don (September 11, 2000). "O'seas auds look to be scared silly". Variety. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Big Momma's House (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Big Momma's House Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  18. ↑ Ebert, Roger (June 2, 2000). "Big Momma's House Movie Review (2000)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  19. ↑ Morris, Wesley (June 2, 2000). "'Big Momma's House'". SFGate. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  20. ↑ Snider, Eric D. (June 2, 2000). "Big Momma's House - EricDSnider.com". EricDSnider.com. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  21. ↑ Emily Fox-Kales, Body Shots: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders (2011), p. 154.
  22. ↑ Stuart Heritage (November 10, 2010). "Big Momma's House 3: once, twice, three times a fake lady". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  23. ↑ King, Susan (November 23, 2000). "'Fantasia' collector's set is fabulous". Los Angeles Times. The Times. p. 60. Archived from the original on June 13, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Big Momma's House: Special Edition (2000)". www.dvdmg.com.
  25. ↑ "Big Momma's House DVD Release Date March 6, 2001". DVDs Release Dates. Retrieved August 16, 2026.
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