I sat through BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE and while I didn't often laugh out loud, there were many moments that made me smile, and some that almost memorable. Almost, but not quite. If we look at the plot, there's not really much that hasn't been done before. Man dresses as woman. Mans solves crime. Man gets girl.

And if we look at the underlying humor, we still don't really come up with anything novel, since Eddie Murphy as the Klumps actually covered most of the ground, and then some. Most of the jokes are somewhat to be expected, with a very very shakey start where big Mama has to rush to the bathroom. It seems that bathroom humor is becoming more and more the norm in films. Ugh.

Then there is the almost obligatory sexual situation joke, where the gorgeous and skimpily clad gal climbs into bed with the guy dressed as a woman, and well, you know where that has to go. It was funny when Marilyn Monroe did it to Jack Lemon in Some Like It Hot, it's less funny every time it's used.

But the scenes that work well, include the one on the basketball court, where Big Momma proves that she can jump, and the scene in the church, where big mama also proves she can dance.

So, yes, Big Momma's House does have a certain charm that makes the film hang together, which, for the most part is the personal of Martin Lawrence, who has a subtle way with comedy that I find personally appealing. If the film doesn't work, it's because the humor is a gathering together of shaky humor barely clad by a plot. And to me, the stereotyping of Black Southerners wasn't all that funny.


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