This film is more or less a series of sketches, like a better episode of Saturday Night Live. Almost always they revolve around a fish out of water – an African American character pretending to be white, and vice versa, a simple person at a country club, decent people forced to pander to racist clients, and as I’m sure most of us have seen in the previews, a white lawyer trying to talk jive with the homeys.

Really thinking about “Bringing Down the House,” it should be awful. Absolutely terrible. The story is weak, the jokes a mixed bag, and they use the same gags and setups time and time again.

But, honestly, it’s not all that bad. Walking out of it, I did not think “wow, this is a horrible movie.” Actually I thought, it was fun to watch, but I’ll never see or think about it again.

The story is shockingly simple. Steve Martin plays an attorney who is working on closing the deal with an important client. She is an older, racist southerner with money to spare. He lives across the street from another racist and homophobe. To inflame these situations, a blind Internet date turns out to be the loud and hilarious Queen Latifah, and suddenly Martin finds himself injected into Latifah’s world of street talking, house parties and her past as a criminal. Suddenly Martin is trying to hide this visitor from almost everyone in his life.

What I found most funny is when either Latifah or Martin tries to adapt for the other. Latifah takes Martin out dancing, where she teaches the white boy to dance, and the drunken martin is hilarious to watch. In another scene, Martin dresses up with gold chains and sports jerseys, and cruises downtown into Latifah’s world.

These scenes are funny because of the acting. Steve Martin still has what it takes, playing with words, double takes and gestures like the master comedian he is. Listening to the dialogue, I shiver to think what this film would have become with a lead such as Freddie Prinze Jr. or Ben Affleck. Latifah is also surprisingly strong, screaming her lines, showing her attitude, and overacting with a constant smile on her face.

The real winner of “Bringing Down The House” is Eugene Levy, most recently seen in the “Greg the bunny” television series and “Serendipity.” He’s the white attorney who falls in love with Latifah, and watching this white-as-can-be, glass-wearing lawyer break talk jive with the homeys is a riot. He continues to upstage his costars in almost every film he appears.

None of these actors, though, can save the film when it attempts to become a bit more serious. I’d prefer if they kept the film crazy until the very end. Instead, with its serious side, the flaws of the characters just become more obvious. I don’t care about any of them. And the racial tone of the film becomes a bit darker, and cynical. How can we not notice the hatred running beneath the comedy?

I had a dumb, shallow good time. This is the kind of film where, ten seconds before the credits, everyone can tell it’s about to end, and the entire audience is standing with coats in hand as the credits begin to roll. I think they had fun too, but they knew it was dumb fun, and now it was time to move on.

So I’m giving this film two stars. Is that a bad rating? Well, kind of. I’m saying it’s an enjoyable, but painfully mediocre comedy. It’s still a probably good bet though if you’re looking for a distracting comedy this weekend.