Steve Martin is aging beautifully. While some, Steven Seagal or Robin Williams, refuse to go gently into that good night, dismissing the notion that their advancing years prohibits them from battling swarms of evil henchmen, Steve Martin is still capable of being as wild and crazy of a guy as he was at the prime age of King Tut.

With 1999’s “Bowfinger” and 2001’s “Novocaine” shadowing the box offices with a small critics buzz, Martin continues to deliver off-beat comedies reminiscent of “The Jerk” and “My Blue Heaven,” ones that have made him one of the greatest American comedians.

Veteran choreographer (“She’s All That,” “Boogie Nights”) and greenhorn director Adam Shankman brings the story of Peter Sanderson’s (Martin) workaholic and lonely life that is turned upside down when he meets “LawyerGirl” in an online chatroom. After he invites her for a casual get-together, he learns that LawyerGirl is not, as he was told, a tall white blond women, but rather a very beautifully black woman named Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah, “Chicago”).

Facing all sorts of almost expected problems that ensue when a fugitive shares residence with an uptight tax attorney, Peter and Charlene help each other escape from the lives they thought were perfect.

“Bringing Down the House” delivers interesting shifts in tone. At the same time that you are laughing, you are also scared because you know how close these people are to losing everything.

And that is where Martin’s true talent resides: in his ability to convince the viewer that he is in danger even though the predicament is absolutely hysterical. The awkwardness of the situations, which must be credited to the writer Jason Filardi, would nonetheless seem bland if it were not for Martin’s and, in this case, Queen Latifah’s, knack for acting as if there were no camera capturing their reactions.

In a way reminiscent to the writing of Larry David for “Seinfeld,” the script moves flawlessly from one moment of impending tragedy to a brilliant climax of irony.

However, while the story is about the ridiculousness of prejudice, how one type of person can in fact help his opposites, in the end, the comedy only makes fun of prejudice and offers no real resolution to race problems in the country.

It is seriously doubtful as to whether the movie intended to solve the country’s problem, even though the film clearly does say that the problem still exits. In one scene, Martin forces Latifah to serve dinner to an old heiress who says she remembers those days when her family’s slaves would sing. This scene obviously implies that the notion of slavery, although dead, still resides in our stereotypes. But then where is any sense of sensitivity to the plight? The movie is only capable of making light of racism and does so in very prejudiced ways.

Despite the qualms of how the film deals with an issue that should be dealt with more sensitively, it is entertaining. Martin and Latifah pair up nicely, and Eugene Levy’s embarrassing antics are there to fill any gaps where a viewer may not be entertained by the chemistry between the leads.

All together, an amusing package that offers more to think about then meets the eye.

Grade: B