Big Momma's House
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Big Momma's House is a 2000 crime comedy film, directed by Raja Gosnell, and written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer. The film stars Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent who is tasked with tracking down an escaped convict and their loot, by going undercover as the estranged grandmother of their former girlfriend, unaware of the bond he will form with her. The film also stars Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, and Terrence Howard.
Although the film received negative reviews from critics, it proved a box office hit in the United States by grossing over $117 million, leading to it receiving two sequels - Big Momma's House 2 in 2006, and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son in 2011.
Plot
Undercover FBI agents, Malcolm Turner and John Maxwell, find themselves assigned by their bosses into tracking down escaped convict Lester Vesco, who was serving a life sentence for murder and the armed robbery of a bank. Malcolm and John learn that Lester may be seeking to find his ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pierce, an employee of the bank who is suspected of supplying him with a key to the vault, as the money that was stolen was never recovered. Malcolm and John find themselves staking out the home of Sherry's estranged grandmother, Hattie Mae Pierce Template:Snd an overweight, elderly African American woman, whom her friends affectionately call Big Momma Template:Snd in Cartersville, Georgia, and soon find that she is about to leave for two weeks to visit her ill friend. Malcolm takes advantage of this by posing as her in order to bring Sherry to her house to get her to confess to her involvement in the bank robbery.
To maintain his disguise as Big Momma, Malcolm is forced to maintain the real Big Momma's lifestyle. This includes him dealing with her lecherous boyfriend, assuming her occupation as a midwife, and attending self-defense classes led by dim-witted security guard Nolan, whom the agents are later forced to recruit when he stumbles onto their operation. During this time, Malcolm bonds with Sherry and her ten-year-old son Trent, both in disguise and as himself Template:Snd posing as Big Momma's handyman Template:Snd but finds nothing to link her to the robbery, nor to the missing money's location. After attending a church service with them, where he compels in his disguise for Sherry to not hold any secrets, Malcolm finds the missing money in Trent's footlocker after returning home to a surprise birthday party for the real Big Momma. His discovery is witnessed by Sherry, who confess to him that she had no idea what Lester was planning, and didn't report her key was stolen out of fear of being fired.
Matters soon become complicated when John discovers that the real Big Momma has returned home prematurely. In his efforts to stop her re-entering the house, he instructs Nolan to lock her out, only for the dim-witted guard to lock out Malcolm by mistake. Lester eventually arrives on the scene, having tracked down Sherry, and soon puts her in danger. Malcolm swiftly breaks into the house, whereupon he tackles with Lester and subdues him after John is shot, but at the cost of his disguise being dropped in front of Sherry and Trent. Although Lester is arrested and the money recovered, Malcolm finds that Sherry and Trent refuse to speak to him after being heartbroken by his deception. Seeking forgiveness, Malcolm attends a Sunday morning church service and confesses in a heartfelt speech to Sherry and Trent that he genuinely loves them. Big Momma forgives Malcolm for his actions, and the church crowd cheers as Malcolm and Sherry kiss, before Big Momma and the choir sing "Oh Happy Day" during the film's closing credits.
Cast
