Bringing Down the House
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: March 7, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
14
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Hits an edginess that will keep today’s audiences laughing. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Having funny lines and amusing gags is only half the battle. The rest is in the delivery, and that's where the trio of Martin, Latifah, and Levy excel. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A high-performance low comedy, House succeeds because Martin's Peter Sanderson and Latifah's Charlene Morton each plays Henry Higgins to the other's Eliza Doolittle. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A comedy that successfully plays with stereotypes, both racial and personal. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
The best scene centers on neither Latifah nor Martin. Rather, it's the venerable Plowright delivering an a capella rendition of the slave spiritual "Is Massa Gonna Sell Me Tomorrow?" Read full review
63
Baltimore SunRoger Moore
A gut-busting black-and-white culture clash comedy. It's not elegantly done. Some of the acting is too broad to enjoy. It has plot problems and racial-stereotype problems. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Irresistibly funny in its brightest moments. At other times, this comedy about a black-white culture clash sags until it scrapes bottom. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
There are certainly good laughs to be had. But the contrived script and bland direction prevent the film from ever developing a comic life of its own, leaving what fun there is seeming like the foundation to a rumpus room that's never finished. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaul West
The supporting cast, peppered with seasoned pros like Levy, Smart, Betty White and a hilarious Joan Plowright, milk underwritten roles with gusto. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
A series of outrageous situations and generally manages to walk the thin line between poking fun at racial stereotypes and reinforcing them. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Here is a movie that ignores the Model Airplane Rule: First, make sure you have taken all of the pieces out of the box, then line them up in the order in which they will be needed. Bringing Down the House is glued together with one of the wings treated like a piece of tail. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Some fine comedy performances bolster this thinly plotted film. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Taking a lightweight comedy such as this seriously is probably a fatal error, but there's no way around it: This House is built on a shaky foundation. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Stock farce characters and stale scenes of mayhem fill the downtime between the Martin-Latifah skirmishes. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The racial angle becomes the tiresome basis of almost every joke. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Even the director's flat-footed moves can't quell Martin and Latifah, whose combined energy is fearsome and sometimes most amusing. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Sometimes funny but mostly stupid film directed by Adam Shankman might have worked had it been made on TV by Norman Lear in the 1970s. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
The movie's not without moments of genuine humor--no comedy starring Steve Martin could be--but sad to say, his Oscar-hosting gig two years ago was funnier. Read full review
40
SalonCharles Taylor
What's offensive in Bringing Down the House is the way the jokes have been calculated not to offend. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Although that pairing (Martin/Latifah) alone may be enough to make this movie a hit, the material is thin and pandering and almost criminally negligent in bypassing opportunities for humor. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
A movie that desperately wants her (Latifah's) hip, her edge and mostly her blackness but doesn't know what to do with the human being who comes with the package. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Leans on just as many stereotypes as it tweaks. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
There are about 15 minutes of genuine, bust-a-gut comedy in Bringing Down the House, and, surprisingly, they belong to Steve Martin, who hasn't been funny on film in years. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Feels like a bad sitcom. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Yet another comedy that suggests someone should take Martin aside and remind him that he can do better. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
If you go to see this sloppy sitcom, in which Mr. Martin plays a divorced, repressed lawyer named Peter Sanderson, do expect to be surprised, seduced and entertained by Queen Latifah.
30
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Eugene Levy is the only actor who emerges relatively unscathed in such a fetid climate; as for Joan Plowright, I hope she took home a healthy check. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
This is strictly formula stuff, made worse by an utterly careless depiction of the characters. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie's real spectacle is the sight of so many talented people slogging through such idiotic material. Read full review
20
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
High-school cafeteria soup has more flavor than this bland, tepid throwback. Read full review
10
Washington PostRita Kempley
The rare film that is capable of offending both Trent Lott and Al Sharpton. Read full review
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