For many years, British comedians have milked dry that old gag about having a man appear in drag. What's surprising is it's taken their American counterparts so long to catch up with them — or that they'd think the effort was even worth it.

There have been notable exceptions — Dustin Hoffman hit it big as an actor pretending to be an actress in 1982's "Tootsie," while 1993's "Mrs. Doubtfire" let Robin Williams loose in a dress, with big box-office results.

But the concept may have hit a new low with "Big Momma's House," a formulaic misfire that could start a whole new round of cinematic cross-dressing if it proves to be popular.

Let's hope not, though, because this comedy (which has some thriller undertones) takes every possible opportunity to go down the low road comedically, with cheap bodily function and sexual gags galore.

Also, though star Martin Lawrence hasn't exactly demonstrated a personality worthy of being on the big screen, the film squanders even his meager talents.

Lawrence stars here as Malcolm Turner, the FBI's leading master of disguise, who's played too many pranks on his superiors. As punishment, he and his partner (Paul Giamatti) are sent to Georgia to spy on one Fanny May Pierce (Ella Mitchell), a k a Big Momma.

To be more specific, the two are hoping that Big Momma can lead them to Sherry Pierce (Nia Long), her estranged granddaughter, who may be in possession of more than $2 million stolen during a particularly bloody bank robbery.

Imagine their surprise when Sherry shows up on Big Momma's doorstep with her young son (Jascha Washington) in tow. The trouble is, Big Momma's gone out of town, so in order to keep Sherry there, Malcolm has to impersonate Fanny May.

However, Malcolm finds himself unable to resist the vulnerable single mother. And there's even worse trouble on the horizon, since Sherry's ex (Terrence Howard) has escaped from jail and is looking for his loot.

Again, the emphasis here is on crassness, the cheaper the joke the better, as far as screenwriters Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer (both veteran sitcom scripters) are concerned.

But perhaps the biggest pity is that you can sense a kinder, gentler Martin Lawrence trying to break out onto the screen, especially in the scenes with Long and Washington.

Unfortunately, he's dealing with a director (Raja Gosnell of "Never Been Kissed") whose idea of comedy is to play things as loudly and frantically as possible; he also encourages Lawrence's worst tendencies.

"Big Momma's House" is rated PG-13 for violence (hand-to-hand combat, gunfire and pratfalls), crude sexual and bodily function jokes, occasional strong profanity and brief female nudity. Running time: 101 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com