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Big Momma's House
20th Century Fox Film Corp.


5.7

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for crude humor including sexual innuendo, and for language and some violence

Starring Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, and Paul Giamatti

Disguised as an old lady, an FBI agent (Lawrence) attempts to protect a beautiful federal witness and her son.

GENRE(S):	Comedy
WRITTEN BY:	Darryl Quarles (also story) Don Rhymer
DIRECTED BY:	Raja Gosnell
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 28, 2000 Video: November 14, 2000 Theatrical: June 2, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Germany / USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

When all's said and done, it turns out to be quite sweet-natured. OK. I laughed. So sue me.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Lawrence plus latex equals laughs.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

A high-spirited, big-bottomed Polaroid of the comedian in a fat suit.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

There's something about a plus-size floral housedress that brings out the best in many male comics, and Lawrence is no exception.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

My guess is that the film will appeal equally to broad-minded 10-year-olds and their grandparents.

Miami Herald Charles Savage

The kind of stupid-funny movie that should only be seen in a crowded theater.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

It keeps its promise to throw an hour and a half of lively entertainment at audiences.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

If you're not rolling in the aisles, you're definitely in the wrong theater.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Big Momma's got game, but she doesn't have much else.

TV Guide Stephen Miller

Lawrence -- with the help of Oscar-winning makeup effects artist Greg Cannom ("Mrs. Doubtfire") -- has created yet another prosthetic screen wonder.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

How special.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Nekesa Mumbi Moody

The formulaic screenplay has enough funny moments to keep the audience from concentrating on the predictability of it all.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Any movie that employs an oven mitt and a plumber's friend in a childbirth scene cannot be all bad, and I laughed a lot.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Neither good nor terrible.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A bad, bad movie...It's loud and dumb and it wastes a good cast on a ludicrous script.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Intermittently funny, often vulgar.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Lawrence is so ON that he appears to be gunning for clockwork bursts of audience approval.

Los Angeles Times Robin Rauzi

If you think that Martin Lawrence dressed up as a hefty grandmother is funny, be gone with you .For the rest of you, you'd be better off just taking a ride on the bus. The script.. .is off and stumbling over unfunny one-liners.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Fitfully amusing.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Ends up waddling its way toward gentler, mistier climes, stopping just shy of "Doubtfire" country. It doesn't run out of smelly steam so much as downshift and become a different movie.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

If Big Momma's House isn't as bad as you imagined, then you've no imagination at all.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Martin Lawrence, no Eddie Murphy, takes a reheated cross-dressing shtick and turns it into something to elate your inner fourth-grader.

Variety Todd McCarthy

The sight and sound of Lawrence in fat-lady drag remains engaging throughout; script may often let him down, forcing him to keep things afloat almost single-handedly.

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

Yo momma so fat, when she gets in an elevator, it has to go down. Had enough?

TNT RoughCut J. Rentilly

A frenetic, aggressively unfunny one-joke merging of "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Tootsie."

Film.com Sean Means

So you'll laugh during Big Momma's House -- but the laughs are so negligible you'll probably forget them before you get to the parking lot.

Film.com Tom Keogh

This is pretty much a lazy film with a few lighthearted moments and no substance.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brittany R gave it a10:
I loved this movie! It was wonderful! I had a few laughs now and then, yes, but I wouldn't say it didn't keep me from laughing. This movie was the kind for entertainment. Always wanting more.

Michael C. gave it a 4:
I never laughed. Once. Amatuerish and extremely pointless, Big Momma's House is an extreme waste of time.

Maria W. gave it a 2:
This was by far the worst comedy I have ever seen. Shame on Martin Lawrence!! This was written by someone who does not know the meaning of "comedy." As for the make-up, it was probably the only thing that was done "okay" for this movie. For anybody who made this their first Martin Lawrence movie, I feel sorry for him. Give Martin another chance by watching another one of his movies and you won't be disappointed.

Ned D. gave it a 1:
Lawrence wants us to believe that old black women are just damned funny, whether or not you want to believe it. And if you don't, he'll just have the old black woman have diarrhea too. It's funnier now, isn't it? No?

Cole L. gave it a 3:
A very bad movie with bad jokes. But it had wit and cleverness.

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Big Momma's House 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

Big Momma's House
20th Century Fox Film Corp.