Bringing Down the House MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -2

Lawyer Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) has lost his wife and children (Kimberly J. Brown and Angus T. Jones) because of his constantly putting work before family in this romantic comedy. He meets a lady who goes by lawyergirl (Queen Latifah) in a legal chat room and, thinking she is an attractive blond lawyer, invites her to his house for a drink. Once this larger-than-life, African-American convict arrives, he cant get rid of her. Only after Peter agrees to help her with her legal difficulties does she agree to leave peacefully. Peter lives in a white, upper-class neighborhood and tries to keep her hidden from his bigoted, nosey neighbors. At work, he is trying to get a multimillionaire, persnickety client (Joan Plowright) to turn over her estate planning to his firm. While he tries to balance his work and family, his new client Lawyergirl keeps showing up at inopportune moments.

Lawyergirl advises Peter on child rearing, dancing and sex, showing him how to be more sexually aggressive with his wife. The two, fully clothed, simulate sex, and Peter puts fruit in his pants to show his manhood. On the dance floor, she shows him some dirty dancing moves with a lot of body rubbing. Her advice regarding children is to listen, instead of talking, no matter how bad things get. Peter eventually realizes his obsession with work has cost him his family. The humor is crude and sometimes sinks to mean-spirited racial stereotypes. Peters coworker (Eugene Levy) frequently makes sexual innuendoes toward Charlene. As a small boy learns to read with a pornographic magazine, he asks what is a rack, and his father says a country. There is also a lengthy, violent fight between Lawyergirl and Peters sister-in-law (Missi Pyle). Sexual situations, crude language and racist humor earn Bringing Down the House a negative acceptability rating.

Preview Reviewer: Alan Boyer
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures