Steve Martin is a maddeningly inconsistent talent. While he's quite capable of delivering pearls of cinematic comedy such as The Man with Two Brains or The Jerk (both of which he also co-wrote), as an actor-for-hire he's also apt to appear in sentimental mush (Father of the Bride) or straight-out unfunny garbage (Sgt Bilko). Unfortunately Bringing Down the House manages to combine the two latter categories with its tale of a wealthy, uptight white lawyer whose perfectly ordered life is turned upside down by an escaped black female convict (Queen Latifah) who's determined to have him prove her innocence. Martin and Latifah's chemistry feels forced, the usually excellent Eugene Levy is wasted in support and many will detect racism and homophobia - no doubt unintentional but still offensive - in the film's crass manipulation of stereotypes. The only thing that should be brought down on this is the curtain.

Uptight lawyer Peter Sanderson wants to dive back into dating after his divorce and has a hard time meeting the right women. He tries online dating and lucks out when he starts chatting with a fellow lawyer. The two agree to meet in the flesh, but the woman he meets — an escaped African-American convict named Charlene — is not what he expected. Peter is freaked out, but Charlene tries to convince him to take her case and prove her innocence. Along the way, she wreaks havoc on his middle-class life as he gets a lesson in learning to lighten up.