Big Momma’s House(2000)

PG-13
1h 39m

Release Date: Jun 2, 2000 | Wide

FBI agent Malcolm Turner goes undercover as a large, elderly woman to catch an escaped convict, but complications arise when he bonds with Sherry, the convict's ex-girlfriend and the woman's granddaughter.

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Director & Top Cast

Raja Gosnell
Director

Martin Lawrence
Malcolm Turner

Nia Long
Sherry Pierce

Paul Giamatti
John

Jascha Washington
Trent Pierce

Terrence Howard
Lester Vesco

Anthony Anderson

Nolan

Ella Mitchell

Hattie Mae Pierce (Big Momma)

Carl Wright

Ben Rawley

Phyllis Applegate

Sadie

Starletta DuPois

Miss Patterson

Jessie Mae Holmes

Miss Other Patterson

Nicole Prescott

Lena

Octavia Spencer

Twila

Tichina Arnold

Ritha

Cedric The Entertainer

Reverend

Philip Tan

Kang

Edwin Hodge

Basketball Teen #1

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital,SDDS,DTS

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Germany,United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

In an illegal underground dog-fighting arena in Korea, an FBI agent named John Maxwell (Paul Giamatti) has been identified. John is ordered to be killed by a Korean boss but is eventually rescued by his undercover partner and master of disguise, Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence). Suddenly, a group of FBI agents storm around the arena.Meanwhile, a criminal named Lester Vesco (Terrence Howard), who was originally serving a life sentence in prison for murder and armed robbery, escapes from his cell by killing the doctor and stealing his car. The FBI assigns Malcolm and John to capture Lester by sending them to small-town Cartersville, Georgia to stake out the house of a fat, elderly African American woman named Hattie Mae Pierce (Ella Mitchell; whom her friends call "Big Momma"), the estranged Southern grandmother of Lester's ex-girlfriend, Sherry Pierce (Nia Long), who supposedly aided Lester in his original bank robbery by giving him the key to the vault.After Big Momma unexpectedly leaves town to help her ill friend within a couple of weeks, Malcolm and John sneak into her house to plant security cameras and tap the phones. Sherry later calls Big Momma's house and Malcolm disguise his voice as Big Momma in order to lure Sherry and possibly obtain a confession. The plan works, in which Malcolm and John work together on a Big Momma disguise costume before Sherry's arrival the next day.Sherry arrives at Big Momma's house with her 10-year-old son, Trent (Jascha Washington), the next day, but Malcolm's inexperience with cooking and strange behavior prompt Sherry to believe that Big Momma might have gone senile. Malcolm also has to deal with Big Momma's lecherous boyfriend, Ben Rawley (Carl Wright), act as midwife for Ritha (Tichina Arnold), who has gone into labor, and attend self-defense classes under Ritha's older brother and dim-witted security guard, Nolan (Anthony Anderson), whom Malcolm handily defeats and humiliates in front of all the other old women.After Malcolm almost damages the suit during the night, he attempts to sneak back to the safe house where he and John are staying to capture Lester, but Sherry captures him on the porch, and Malcolm poses as a "handyman" after just barely hiding the suit in a bush. Malcolm and John repair the suit, and when Malcolm leaves town with Sherry, John searches the safe house for any trace of the money Lester had stolen from the bank, but to no avail. Malcolm also bonds with Trent when he defends him against the two older guys who bullied Trent and kicked him off the court so they could play. Malcolm and Trent eventually beat the boys at basketball, amazing Nolan and Trent. Malcolm also begins to bond with Sherry and Trent by accompanying them on a fishing trip. After Malcolm return to the safe house with John that evening, Nolan bursts in and attempt to arrest Malcolm and John for dismembering Big Momma. Malcolm and John identify themselves and reluctantly recruit Nolan to help them out, promising Nolan that Malcolm and John will recommend him for a place in the FBI if he succeeds.Malcolm, Sherry, and Trent go to church, where the Reverend (Cedric the Entertainer) calls on Malcolm to give his testimony. While posing as Big Momma, Malcolm attempt to influence Sherry and Trent by giving them his testimony about the importance of not keeping secrets. While he, Sherry, and Trent return to Big Momma's house shortly after mass, Malcolm pulls his gun on Big Momma's surprise birthday party. During the party that evening, the real Big Momma return home prematurely, which John tries to stall her. Meanwhile, Malcolm accidentally stumbles across the stolen money hidden in Trent's footlocker. Sherry sees this and tells Malcolm the real story: Lester had merely been playing her for a fool the whole time. Lester wooed Sherry, stole her keys, and got into the vault during the robbery, which Sherry did not tell anyone about her stolen keys out of fear of getting fired.Malcolm goes off to call for his real name to come help them out. In the bathroom, John quietly tells Nolan that the real Big Momma is back, and Nolan accidentally locks Malcolm out of the house to think that he is the real Big Momma. Meanwhile, Lester finally arrives in Big Momma's house, where he successfully tracked Sherry, Trent, and the money. Lester later attempts to take Sherry and Trent out of the house with him, but after Sherry pleads Lester to say goodbye to the real Big Momma, Nolan spots Lester's gun and intends to arrest him, but he accidentally unloads his own gun.Before Lester can kill Nolan, Malcolm breaks through the window to fight Lester, causing confusion among the party-goers as they see two Big Mommas at once. In the ensuing struggle, Lester shoots John in his right shoulder and ends up ripping Malcolm's mask during a fistfight. Nonetheless, Malcolm eventually subdues Lester and knocks him out of the window. Sherry and Trent are heartbroken to realize that Malcolm was just an FBI agent the whole time, and they refuse to speak to him, even when the police arrest Lester and paramedics takes John to the hospital for a gunshot wounded in his right arm.In the epilogue, Malcolm goes to church on Sunday morning with Sherry, Trent, and Big Momma. Malcolm delivers his confession and heartfelt speech to Sherry and Trent and admits that he genuinely loves them. Big Momma eventually forgives Malcolm with a big, strong hug, and the crowd cheers as Malcolm and Sherry kiss with each other. Malcolm and Sherry invite Trent over for a group hug and the crowd celebrates as Big Momma and the choir sings "Oh Happy Day" during the film's closing credits.

Storyline

FBI agent Malcolm Turner is known best for being a brilliant, master of disguise. Malcolm's latest assignment sends him to small-town Georgia, where he's assigned to trap a brutal bank robber (and a recent prison escapee) who they suspect will be coming down to visit his ex-girlfriend Sherry and her son. Malcolm sets up a stakeout across from the home of a larger-than-life southern matriarch known as Big Momma, who's about to be visited by Sherry. It's a simple plan, but there's one big problem: Unbeknownst to Sherry, Big Momma has unexpectedly left town. So Malcolm, decides to impersonate the cantankerous Southern granny. Using a few tricks of disguise, he completely transforms himself into Big Momma, even taking on the corpulent septuagenarian's everyday routine-from cooking soul food to delivering babies to "testifying" at the local church. In the mean time, Malcolm starts falling for Sherry, who may or may not be hiding some stolen cash. Now, Malcolm/Big Momma must somehow find a way to nab his criminal and the girl. — Anonymous An FBI agent Malcolm Turner is going deep undercover as he disguise himself as Sherry Pierce's long-lost grandmother named Hattie Mae Pierce, aka Big Momma. And his latest assignment sends him to small-town Cartersville Georgia, where he is assigned to trap a brutal bank robber who they suspect will be coming down to visit his ex-girlfriend and her son, Trent. Now, Malcolm must somehow find a way to nab his criminal and the lady. — Anthony Pereyra