A ‘House’ of cards; teen spies and debutantes

Bringing Down the House

Steve Martin. Queen Latifah

Touchstone, $30

Thanks to a sprightly trailer that featured the film’s best laughs, the rise in popularity of Latifah coupled with her Oscar nomination for “Chicago” and renewed interest in Martin thanks to his stellar hosting chores on the Academy Awards, this light comedy was a surprise $100-million-plus box-office hit last spring. But the comedy, which also stars Eugene Levy and Joan Plowright, is strictly formulaic fare, with Martin playing a divorced tax attorney with two children and Latifah an escaped convict who enlists Martin to help prove her innocence. The big scene stealer is the French bulldog Linus.

The digital edition is nothing special with the obligatory deleted scenes, a very slick gag reel, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a mock featurette proclaiming Levy the “Godfather of Hop” that falls flat, a Latifah music video and audio commentary from the very giggly director Adam Shankman and writer Jason Filardi.

*

What a Girl Wants

Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth

Warner, $28

Besides Muniz and Duff, Bynes is television’s other top teen star who is breaking into features in a big way. After starring last year with Muniz in “Big Fat Liar,” she gets her first headlining role in this genial remake of the 1950s Broadway play and feature comedy “The Reluctant Debutante.”

Here she plays a 17-year-old girl who lives with her single mom (Kelly Preston) in New York City and who has pined for her father (Firth), a British lord who doesn’t know of her existence. For her birthday, she sets out for London to introduce herself to him just as he’s heating up his political career. The entertaining little DVD includes a lesson in etiquette, deleted scenes, sweet commentary from Bynes and an equally nice track with director Dennie Gordon and screenwriters Jenny Bicks and Elizabeth Chandler.

*

Agent Cody Banks

Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff

MGM, $27

Though this spy spoof is geared for kids, adult audiences won’t be too bored with this featherweight comedy with “Malcolm in the Middle” star Muniz as a 15-year-old Seattle boy recruited for a CIA youth-agent program and sent to romance the daughter (Duff) of a scientist involved with a nefarious plot that threatens the world’s water supply.

The DVD features a load of extras, the majority of which kids won’t be interested in, including outtakes, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage of the stunts and a video diary from director Harald Zwart. Far more for kids are the minidocs “Cool Makeup Tricks by Hilary Duff,” “How to Talk to Girls” and “Frankie Muniz Going Big.” Director Zwart, Muniz and a funny Angie Harmon, who plays Cody’s curvy CIA handler, supply the commentary.

Valley Girl

Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman

MGM, $20

This enjoyable little 1983 film put Cage and director Martha Coolidge on the map. This totally tubular twist on “Romeo and Juliet” finds Foreman playing the ultimate Valley Girl who falls in love with Cage, who dresses down and comes from Hollywood. Though the film’s title is the same as the 1982 Frank and Moon Unit Zappa hit, it doesn’t have any connection to the record. In fact, the Zappas sued over the use of the term “Valley Girl” but lost the case.

Cage, only a teenager when he made this, is adorable, and Frederic Forrest and Colleen Camp as Foreman’s hippie parents are a treat.

Susan King

*

Also this week

“Irreversible” is an attention-grabbing graphic look back to murder, rape and revenge, in that order (Lions Gate: $26.99).

Top VHS rentals

1. “Final Destination 2”

2. “Phone Booth”

3. “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”

4. “Shanghai Knights”

5. “The Life of David Gale”

Top DVD rentals

1. “Final Destination 2”

2. “Shanghai Knights”

3. “Phone Booth”

4. “The Life of David Gale”

5. “Basic”

What’s coming

Tuesday: “The Hunted,” “Head of State,” “Cradle 2 the Grave,” “The House of 1,000 Corpses,” “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” and “P.S. Your Cat is Dead”

Aug. 19: “Chicago”