BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE 2

US, 2006, 99 minutes, Colour.
Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Emily Procter, Zachary Levi, Mark Moses.
Directed by John Whitesell.

One is tempted to check whether the director’s name is real or not. After all, this is a Martin Lawrence comedy and, in the US, it has to be a ‘black sell’ rather than a ‘white sell’.

Obviously, a lot of people enjoy Martin Lawrence comedies. He is clearly popular when he teams with Will Smith in Bad Boys movies. And, for ten years, he has been making a lot of come and go, hit and miss, comedies. Big Momma’s House in which he was a detective doing a Mrs Doubtfire was one if his more successful outings. Success suggests a franchise, a franchise means a sequel and here it is.

Lawrence is once again detective Malcolm Turner but is on desk duty as his wife is expecting. But, of course, he is itching to get on a case again – and applies for a nanny’s job as Big Momma. That gives him the opportunity to do a lot of mugging as the oversized Momma, to be the substitute parent figure for neglected and pressurised kids and to do a whole lot of gymnastics dressed (and undressed) as Big Momma.

The plot involves computer and terrorism conspiracies, murder and blackmail, abduction. But, this is more of a PG show, so it is all basically in good fun. The plot lines make huge assumptions and leaps that defy a realistic interpretation – but a realistic interpretation is to miss the point of a cheerful, time-passing entertainment.

1.The popularity of the original film? Call for a sequel? Martin Lawrence, stand-up comedy, impersonations, cross-dressing as Big Momma?

2.The situation with Malcolm at his desk, with his wife pregnant? Yet his wanting to be away and at work? As Big Momma?

3.The family situation, Big Momma as the nanny? The ordinary domestic life? In the house, at the swimming pool, the underlying subplot of espionage and the role of the father? Believable or not?

4.Malcolm as a character, love for his wife, yet itchy to get out on the job? The interview, his going to the house as Big Momma, his relationship with Leah? With Kevin? The absent father? The two daughters? Their age and their problems? The detail of his work as nanny, the domestic mishaps? His becoming the disciplinarian? Becoming the counsellor? Transforming the children? The mother relying on him? The exposure of the father? The slapstick jokes, the pratfalls – and the gymnastics of Big Momma (dressed and undressed)?

5.The family, the children, the little boy and his problems, the young girl, the teenage girl? Predictable situations? The influence of Big Momma, the changing of their lives?

6.Leah, her character, love for her husband, trying to cope with the children? With Big Momma? Tom, his being trapped, blackmailed? The undercover work of Big Momma, exposing him?

7.The blend of comedy with detective work, with industrial espionage? A satisfying sequel?