Sunday, 26 June 2011

DVD Review: Big Mommas - Like Father, Like Son

Rating: 3.5/10 - Terrible



I'd be lying to you if I said I was looking forward to this film but, in life you sometimes have to take the good with the bad and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son definitely falls under the bad. Make that the very bad.





Director: John Whitesell. Screenplay: Matthew Fogel. Producers: David T. Friendly and Michael Green. Executive Producer: Jeremiah Samuels. Cinematographer: Anthony B. Richmond. Editor: Priscilla Nedd-Friendly. Music: David Newman. Production Designer: Meghan C. Rogers. Costume Designer: Leah Katznelson. Distributor: 20th Century Fox. Starring: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson, Jessica Lucas, Faizon Love, Tony Curran and Portia Doubleday. Running Time: 107 Minutes.

Where do I begin! This is one of those films where you find yourself laughing not because it is funny, but because you are genuinely shocked by how a so-called comedy can be so consistently unfunny. Watching this film make s you realise why Martin Lawrence is so desperate to make Bad Boys 3. While Will Smith is still the biggest movie star on the planet (maybe second to Johnny Depp at the moment but that's another story for another article) and series director Michael Bay is about to make another gazillion dollars from the new Transformers film, Martin Lawrence's career is on a slippery slope to obscurity and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son has helped accelerate that descent. As for where the hilarious, comedic genius that I grew up watching is, I haven't a clue. In fact I am becoming increasingly convinced by this idea that perhaps he never was funny to begin with. You see, being as I am, a young man in my early twenties, my taste in film and television has only just matured over the last 5 to 7 years or so. This means that any films or TV shows that I liked or disliked before then I should probably re-watch and re-evaluate to see if I still feel the same way about them. To be honest though, chances are I won't.

High up on that hit-list will definitely be Big Mommas House and Big Mommas House 2. Big Mommas House, from what I remember, was hilarious while Part 2 was a disappointment but nonetheless fairly enjoyable as far as these things go. The less said about this latest instalment, the better. I'd tell you what the plot is but that's irrelevant because this film a non-stop barrage of childish gags, lame jokes and cheesy musical numbers that you'd do well t avoid. The acting is laughable but the jokes are not. Even the chief villains in the film, a trio of Russian gangsters, can't be taken seriously, what with their silly fake accents and Pink Panther-esque levels of ineptness.

All of this makes me shudder to think that there was actually a time when Martin Lawrence was my favourite comedian. This film has made sure that those happy memories are now firmly dead and buried in the past.

Verdict: Avoid this at all costs!


Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.

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