What film has the characters Peter Sanderson and Charlene Morton?

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The film featuring Peter Sanderson and Charlene Morton is Bringing Down the House. Released in 2003, this comedy stars Steve Martin as Peter, a divorced tax attorney whose carefully ordered life is disrupted by Charlene, played by Queen Latifah.

Peter believes he is meeting the woman from an online conversation, but Charlene is not the person shown in the photograph. She is a recently escaped prisoner who insists she was framed for armed robbery. After Peter reluctantly helps her, Charlene becomes involved with his children, his strained relationship with his ex-wife Kate, and his professional life.

The story combines family comedy, romance, and courtroom-crime elements. A major plot turn comes when Peter discovers that Charlene's former boyfriend, known as Widow, committed the robbery while disguised as her. The film's title refers to the chaos Charlene brings into Peter's previously controlled household and ultimately to the positive changes that follow.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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