2000, PG-13, 98 minutes

With Eddie Murphy's transformation in The Nutty Professor and Robin William's cross-dressing turn in Mrs. Doubtfire -- all within the last few years, Martin Lawrence had a lot to live up to with Big Momma's House. And while the story isn't nearly as good as the two films already mentioned, it does provide a few big laughs despite a rather sloppy production.

Malcom (Martin Lawrence), master of disguise and FBI agent, is assigned to stake out the house of Big Momma, a woman whose granddaughter (Nia Long) is suspected of taking part in a bank robbery two years ago. When Big Momma has to leave town for a few days for a family emergency, Malcom disguises himself as the massive woman and tries to get the granddaughter to confess. Of course, he runs into some trouble while undercover, finding himself in a countless number of awkward situations.

Big Momma's House is one of those films that's somewhat difficult to put a label on. It's definitely not great, but isn't all that bad either. The premise of a normal, healthy man disguising himself into an overweight and older character is far from original, but it still works because of Martin Lawrence's charisma. The setup is solid and all of the essential pieces are there, but unfortunately they don't come together nearly as well as they should have.

Where the film suffers most is in Raja Gosnell's direction, which is unprofessional and sloppy. The final product resembles a bunch of celluloid that was slapped together very quickly in the editing room and shipped off to the studio marketing department without a second look. In fact, due to the delays Big Momma's House experienced (it wasn't finished until about six weeks before release), my theory is probably much closer to reality than it should be. Throughout the film there are several glaring editing mistakes, particularly one instance in which Lawrence uses some duct-tape in a strategic manner and then it magically disappears for the convenience of the story.

Not many actors could pull off a decent performance in a film like this one, but Martin Lawrence does. A lot of the humor is tired and some of it falls flat, but Lawrence does a good job of giving the story at least a little bit of life. Nia Long is sufficient in her role, although she mostly serves as an objectified piece of eye-candy, and Paul Giamatti (who you probably don't know by name but will certainly recognize) is likable as usual, playing a fellow FBI agent.

Chances are you'll know ahead of time whether or not you'll like Big Momma's House. Fans of Martin Lawrence or lowbrow humor will probably enjoy it, but moviegoers looking for anything more than that should stay away.