BIG MOMMAS, LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

US, 2011, 107 minutes, Colour.
Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson, Jessica Lucas, Tony Curran, Ken Jeong.
Directed by John Whitesell.

There were obviously enough fans out there, especially in the US, for Martin Lawrence to don fat suit, wig and mammy dresses to do undercover work in Big Momma’s House 2. There must have been enough again for this Big Momma Three. However, Malcolm, the FBI agent, has now acquired a stepson whom he wants to study at Duke University, whereas the son, aged 17 (a year older than Justin Bieber when he launched his career) already has his music contract to be signed by Malcolm for his first CD.

You think - how can they both get into the fat suits and the wigs (and the son’s appalling sense of fashion) so that the film combines parental clashes, FBI investigation, comedy of mistaken identity and the possibility of a school romance? Step by step they do, making it seem almost plausible at times. The quick answer is that a USB stick the FBI needs for evidence has been hidden in a music box in a girls’ art school in Atlanta. Malcolm’s opportunity for an arrest has gone wrong and his son has witnessed a murder. So, a variation on St Trinians, with Malcolm becoming Big Momma the house mother and the son becoming Big Momma’s grandniece.

It all plays out much as we might expect but that’s the nature of this kind of comic action concoction. The gangsters, Eastern European, of course, are really nasty. However, this is meant to be a cheerful movie so, during the final credits everyone in the cast, gangsters included, have the chance to join in the rap song and move with the rhythms. No real reason why Big Mother couldn’t come back again.

1. The popularity of the series? The comedy for African- American audiences? Wider audiences? The popularity of Martin Lawrence?

2. The American cities, homes, police precincts, the all-girls school? The musical score? The final rap song?

3. The title, father and son, the bond between the two, both in disguise? Comic sequences?

4. Malcolm, his past career, his relationship with Sherry, Sherry absent? His character, detective work? In police action? The relationship with his son? Trent wanting to be a rap singer, not go to university? Wanting his father to sign the document?

5. Trent, age, character, underage, the University, his father’s signature? His interest in rap music? The contracts, the gangsters, his witnessing the murder? His father’s help?

6. Comedy of men in women’s disguise? The fat suits? Large African- American women? Grandmothers? The younger generation? Movement, voices, awkwardness and comic routines?

7. Trent, the encounter with Haley? The container with the USB stick? The gangsters wanting it? Murdering the informer? His getting the information that the USB was in another container? The gangsters and their search for the USB stick?

8. Trent, getting the help of his father? Going to the all-girls school, the house mistress? Life in the house, the girls – and the comedy of girls’ dormitories – and male presence? Malcolm and his shenanigans? Trent and his behaviour, as Charmaine?

9. The school, Trent and the attraction to Haley, in disguise, her not recognising him? The plans for the duet? The failure of the song, Trent exposed, Haley’s reaction?

10. The janitor, his attraction to Malcolm, his involvement with the USB stick – but his saving the day at the end?

11. The comedy with the mailman?

12. Haley, acknowledging that she had taken the stick, a prank?

13. Malcolm, going back to normal? Trent, deciding to go to the University, with Haley, his music?