Make no mistake – BIG MOMMAS HOUSE is all about Martin Lawrence wearing large old lady drag. The plot is just a side issue. This film is merely a vehicle for Lawrence’s own wacky humour, comic timing and manic energy. Saying that, it succeeds – it is pretty FUNNY.
In many ways it’s remininscent of Eddie Murphy’s dressing up antics in the Nutty Professor series. Anyway, Lawrence is a highly talented comedian in his own right and he is able to bring more than a few laughs to the proceedings.
Lawrence plays FBI agent Malcolm Turner, who spends most of the film buried under makeup and prosthetics as the elderly Big Momma. Since Big Momma is really a young man wearing a fat suit, a lot of the humour derives from just that - seeing what appears to be a heavyset old lady doing un-old-lady-like things.
Big Momma plays basketball. Big Momma beats up a surly self-defence instructor. Big Momma gets down and funky during a church service. Do you begin to see what I mean?
The story itself never makes complete sense, and while it really doesn’t matter considering the film’s overall intent, it would have helped if there were a strong spine on which to hang all the individual set pieces. But there isn’t one, and this ‘House’ ultimately collapses rather, as the joke wears a bit thin…or should I say fat?
It’s largely a succession of sketches built around Lawrence/Big Momma doing funny ‘stuff’ and that, in itself, is probably enough why it was a box-office hit and will take probably take plenty of cash at both video rental shops and DVD/Video sales.