Queen Latifah & Steve Martin team for no. 1 movie `Bringing Down The House'

Jet, April 7, 2003

Is there anything Queen Latifah cannot do?

She has reigned on top of the record charts, the best-selling book lists, starred in the top-rated TV sitcom "Living Single" and has been in countless movies-including the hit Chicago--for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role as the prison warden, Mama Morton.

And fast on the heels of that triumph, Latifah has teamed up with funnyman Steve Martin in the No. 1 box-office smash Bringing Down The House, which had grossed $83.4 million at JET press time.

And Latifah indeed brings down the house in the outrageous comedy in which she stars as Charlene, a prison escapee who turns attorney Peter Sanderson's (Steve Martin) life upside down.

Sanderson is a divorced, straight-laced, uptight, workaholic attorney who still loves his ex-wife (played by Jean Smart). He can't figure out what he did wrong to make her leave him.

However, Peter is doing his best to move on, and he's become smitten with a brainy, sexy woman he met online. But when Charlene comes to his house for their first date, he sees that she is not at all like she described herself online.

And the laughs begins when the loud and shocking Charlene arrives at his house to ask him to clear her name of a crime she insists she did not commit. But Peter wants nothing to do with her, which makes Charlene wreak havoc in his life and jeopardizes his efforts to get back with his wife and to woo a billion-dollar client played by Joan Plowright.

As hysterical complications ensue, the unlikely pair has the chance to put each other's lives on higher ground--if they don't end up bringing down the house.

Adding to the movie's success is the talented cast which includes Betty White of "Golden Girls" TV fame as the racist next-door neighbor; Steve Harris ("The Practice") as Charlene's ex-boyfriend; Kimberly J. Brown and Angus T. Jones as Peters kids; and Michael Rosenbaum as an employee in Peter's office.

Latifah also serves as an executive producer of the comedy, which opened at No. 1 at the box office. She describes her character, Charlene, as "ghetto fabulous and smart; she's just made some bad choices."

Latifah notes, "There are a lot of controversial jokes in the film, and we'd go back and forth figuring out what was offensive, what was funny, and what was offensive but funny enough to get over-the-top."

Martin notes, "This was a broad physical comedy, and I hadn't done a film like that in a while. And it was outrageous--the script reminded me of something from the 1980s--sort of raunchy and freewheeling. I was excited about it."

Latifah taught the cast today's latest slang. Co-star Eugene Levy, who plays Peter's law firm colleague, recalls, "She taught us the street language, like, `You got me straight trippin', Boo'--which I still don't have a clue about what it means."

Martin, however, says, he did understand the slang. "Like me, my character, Peter, was also just copying what he'd heard somewhere. However, I got interested in finding out, for my own information, what it meant. And when it was explained to me, I thought, `Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense.' It was a kind of cool slang."

Martin raved about teaming up with Latifah in a story published in the Chicago Sun-Times." I loved working with Queen Latifah and would do it again in a second."

Latifah says she was happy being the student to Martin and Levy. "These guys are flawless. They're the best. I'm the young one around here; I'm the junior. I'm learning so much from them. I was also impressed with Steve's versatility; doing a scene differently with each take."

The film's co-producer David Hoberman says he was really excited to work with Latifah. "I always thought she is really gifted; she can sing, she is funny, and I loved her in Living Out Loud."

Director Adam Shankman says he was "blown away with Queen Latifah's comedy chops. She's fearless and doesn't mind playing the fool; she allows herself to look pretty crazy in the film. And she completely keeps up with Steve. In fact, she seems much more seasoned than her comic resume belies."

Adding to the movie's success is some hot hip hop and R&B music.

"I knew we wanted music to be a real big element in this film, to give it the right momentum," explains Latifah. "There are nightclub and backyard party scenes which cry out for great hip-hop songs."

Latifah has a song in the film, featuring Mario Winans, called Do Your Thing. She also has a bonus single on the movie soundtrack, Better Than The Rest. In addition, there are some great R&B songs including Barry White's I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby and Kelly Price's rendition of Chaka Khan's big hit Ain't Nobody.

The film's producers David Hoberman and Ashok Amritraj sum up the overall message of Bringing Down the House, which has become the must-see comedy of the season:

Amritraj notes, "What I particularly connected with in our story is the idea that we are sometimes given gifts by the unlikeliest of people in the unlikeliest of forms. In this case, Queen Latifah gives Steve's character the permission to be, publicly, that person that he rarely lets the world see. The bottom line is that they are just magical together."