"Big Mamma's House" offers exactly what you would expect in a comedy featuring Martin Lawrence dressing up as an old, grossly obese granny; this is a one-joke movie in which an undercover cop disguises himself as Big Mamma and participates in things we anticipate Big Mamma normally would not do. There are some big laughs involved with the size of the title character, as well as her with breasts, attitude, sexuality, and ignorance, but there are also some obvious audience pleasers that feel contrived. Although the make-up effects are astonishing and amusing, there are no surprises found within this material. We have already seen this film's punch line in better parodies like "Some Like It Hot," "Tootsie," and "Mrs. Doubtfire." This movie is predictable, over-enthusiastic, and does not take off with its ideas.Martin Lawrence stars as a cop named Malcolm, who, with his partner John (Paul Giamatti), is assigned to investigate the jail bust of a convicted criminal named Laster (Terrence Dashon Howard). They suspect the murderer is after his ex-girlfriend, Sherry (Nia Long), and her son Trent (Jascha Washington), who may unknowingly own the stolen loot of a bank heist years ago. Sherry is somewhat aware of the danger she may be in, thus moves immediately to her relative's house, whom everyone calls Big Mamma (Ella Mitchell). Before Sherry arrives, however, Big Mamma leaves town for an engagement. John and Malcolm see potential involved with Big Mamma, thus they determine that having Malcolm go undercover as this character might originate information on Sherry's involvement with Laster's criminal actions. Martin Lawrence, reprising his "Blue Streak" character, is perfect for the fast talking Mamma in which he disguises himself. The actor is in nearly every scene and is basically what the movie structures upon: one excessive comic situation after another featuring the concealed Malcolm participating in activities from karate class to a joyful church service and from the kitchen baking goodies to sleeping with the unknowing Sherry. Lawrence makes the movie succeed to the level that it does, however, his high spirits and willing energy only carry the film so far. It is only a matter of time before he wares out his welcome and becomes the only thing holding the story together. The film does not stay focused on the plot of Laster attempting to reach Sherry; if a comedy makes the misconception to take its plot seriously, then it requires consistence. Here, although the setup contains potential, the only tension involved is when Sherry will discover her Big Mamma is an undercover cop. Essentially the movie's story is just an excuse to have Martin Lawrence play a funny character who does funny things.The film's director is Raja Gosnell, whose "Never Been Kissed" and "Home Alone 3" provided trifling laughs, just like "Big Mamma's House" does. In this film, he and screenwriters Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer attempt to do too much with too little like developing a romantic subplot that feels trite and predictable. No matter how much make-up or covering the filmmakers provide for their characters, beyond an occasional laugh there is simply nothing new here.

When you have a movie with a title like "Big Momma's House", you shouldn't expect high art. I certainly wasn't, but sometimes that's okay - sometimes you just want an excuse to laugh.Still, I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed with what they did here. The fault lies with the screenplay. For starters, it is not exactly original. While I wouldn't call this movie a blatant rip-off of "Stakeout", in several regards it's too close to that earlier movie for its own good. Speaking of familiar, another problem I had was that too many of the gags involving Lawrence as the cross-dressing FBI agent I had more or less seen in other movies before. Plus, the movie devotes far too much time to this than fleshing out the story - if what's here could be considered a story.On the positive side, the movie is filled with energy, both in front of and behind the camera. There's enough energy that some viewers not wanting to think while watching a movie might find the enterprise enjoyable enough. If that sounds like you, you'll probably find this movie adequate. If you want more nutrition in your cinematic diet, look elsewhere.

Big Momma's House is directed by Raja Gosnell, written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer, and stars Martin Lawrence, Paul Giamatti, Nia Long & Terrance Howard. Lawrence plays FBI Agent Malcolm Turner who goes undercover as "Big Momma" Hattie Mae Pierce (Ella Mitchell), so as to hopefully snare escaped convict Lester Vesco (Howard). "Big Momma" is the aunt of Vesco's ex-wife, Sherry (Long), who is on her way to "Big Momma's" to hide out after hearing of Lester's escape.In spite of baffling critics-and not finding many casual film viewers willing to say they enjoyed it! the film was a surprise hit and opened as the number two movie in North America. It went on to gross over $117 million at the box office and subsequently ensured that a sequel would follow down the line (it arrived in 2006). The film isn't pretending to be anything other than the mindless comedy it is. If viewed on those terms then it can be enjoyed. Sure some of the gags are puerile, and Lawrence is an acquired taste, tho his energy and comedy timing are first rate here. But it does work to a degree. It's been done better in the likes of Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire, and the plot, with it's boorish romantic strand, is merely an excuse for "Big Momma" to get into daft scrapes. Yet the action is nicely staged and the pace of the piece never sags. There's also fun to be had in watching Giamatti & Howard looking like they just know they should be doing better stuff than this!.Forgettable juvenile fluff for sure, but likable enough; in that brain at the door-bucket of popcorn-way. 6/10

I was in my early teens when this was released ten years ago, and I never heard of it at the time. In early 2006, I went to the theatre while this movie's sequel, "Big Momma's House 2", was playing, but since I had never seen the original by this point and could see that the sequel was widely hated, it was obviously not the movie I was going to see. Instead, I went to see "The Matador" on that particular trip to the movie theatre. It took me over four years after that to get around to watching the original "Big Momma's House", and just before seeing it, I had low expectations, thinking it would probably be a very unfunny comedy, even if it wasn't absolutely terrible. However, while it's unsurprisingly not that great, I did laugh.Malcolm Turner is an FBI agent who is very skilled in disguising himself for undercover operations. After it is announced that a murderer and robber named Lester Vesco has just escaped from prison, where he was serving his life sentence, Malcolm and fellow FBI agent John Maxwell are sent to catch him. The FBI believes that the criminal's ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pierce, was also involved in criminal activity, but they haven't been able to prove it. Malcolm and John go to the neighbourhood in Georgia where Sherry's morbidly obese grandmother, Hattie Mae Pierce (a.k.a. Big Momma) lives, and begin to spy on her. Sherry is on her way to her grandmother's house with her son, Trent, but before they arrive, Big Momma leaves town unexpectedly, so Malcolm decides to pose as the feisty elderly woman! He takes on her lifestyle while trying to get the truth from Sherry, and also finds himself falling for the criminal's ex-girlfriend! Before it is announced that Lester has escaped from prison and Malcolm and John go to spy on Big Momma's house, the film begins with the two FBI agents busting a dog fight, and I guess parts of this sequence are somewhat funny, but no more than that. The film continues to be mostly straight-faced after this, as we learn about the escaped prisoner, the two agents are sent on their mission, and Malcolm disguises himself as Big Momma. The early part where Malcolm has to hide in the shower while Big Momma defecates is memorable, but not in a good way. For a while, it didn't seem like I would be able to give "Big Momma's House" a rating higher than 5/10. I frequently snickered, but it didn't look like I would ever find any BIG laughs in the film. However, that eventually changed. While it's still not that consistent later on, it certainly can be funny with the things Malcolm has to do while in disguise, including a baby delivery. The scene with Sherry seeing Malcolm as himself and the FBI agent claiming to be a handyman is also a really funny part. The story and characters can also be interesting.This 2000 release is definitely not generally considered one of the great modern-day comedies, and after seeing it, I can understand why, but I've seen much worse excuses for comedy. I wouldn't have been too surprised if I had thought "Big Momma's House" was really lame when I watched it, but while I'm sure many people think it is, I can't say I do. It is uneven, but sometimes funny. Also, there isn't nearly as much juvenile toilet humour in the movie as that one defecation scene suggests! Martin Lawrence plays the lead role here. I haven't seen him in any other film and have only seen a bit of his stand-up comedy, so I'm not that familiar with his work, but think he does a pretty good job with his performance here. This film is a little cheesy and doesn't have the most original plot, and more thought could have been put into the ending as well, but if you want a silly, raunchy comedy, this particular one might work, at least in some parts.