Guess Who
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Movie Reviews of Guess Who
Movie Review: "edgy" comedy without the edge
Summary: 2 Stars
**1/2
When it was released in 1967, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" was acclaimed as a "breakthrough" film for its lighthearted, yet serious, depiction of an interracial romance. In the years since, society has moved so far in the direction of acceptance of so-called "mixed marriages" that any remake is bound to feel, at least to some extent, superfluous and anachronistic. And that is exactly the case with "Guess Who," a 2005 update whose abbreviated title is only the first of the many changes the filmmakers have rung on the Stanley Kramer original.
The screenwriters' first alteration involves switching the race roles, so that it is now a black family having to accept a white male as a prospective in-law rather than the other way around. Bernie Mac assumes the Spencer Tracy role as the father whose world is turned upside down when his beloved daughter brings a Caucasian boyfriend (Ashton Kutcher as a white Sidney Poitier) home to meet the family. On the distaff side, we have Judith Scott taking over for Katherine Hepburn as the understanding mother and Zoe Saldana replacing Katherine Houghton as the freethinking daughter.
Since interracial marriage is no longer the hot-button issue it once was, the filmmakers have been forced to inject a number of other non-race-related plot complications into the mix to develop and maintain the conflict and drama. Thus, we have Kutcher trying to hide the fact from both his fiance and her family that he has recently quit his high-paying job at a prestigious firm and that he may, in fact, be the target of a securities-and-exchange commission probe. Indeed, with Kutcher spending most of his time trying to win over his critical and overbearing future father-in-law, "Guess Who" feels more like a remake of "Meet the Parents" than of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."
The real problem with "Guess Who" is that it rarely has the courage of its convictions. Having decided to tackle a relatively dicey topic, the film too often drops the issue in favor of scenes that wouldn't pass muster even on a third-rate sitcom. For every scene that is incisive and daring - i.e. Kutcher telling a series of black jokes at the family dinner table - there is another that is pure Hollywood hokum (Mac and Kutcher sleeping in the same bed together, Mac and Kutcher having a go-cart race to determine who has the higher testosterone level and the greater machismo, etc.).
All of the performers are fine, especially Mac and Kutcher in the lead roles. However, they just haven`t been given very sophisticated material to work with here. "Guess Who" might have been a better film had it aimed more for genuine, hard-edged satire and less for lowbrow slapstick and predictable romantic comedy sentimentality.
Still, it's been 38 years since "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" first shocked the nation with its in-your-face defiance of miscegenation laws, and the world has since moved on to other issues of social injustice and marital definition. Which is why, in the year 2005, "Brokeback Mountain" was a breakthrough film and "Guess Who" was not.
Movie Review: Guess who?
Summary: 3 Stars
I went to see this movie with my boyfriend on a Friday night, and it was good. I though it was a good date movie. It's funny, not long, but it's definitely predictable. Though there might have been some racist jokes or comments, it was pretty funny. It seemed like it could happen in a real life, and I think many face that problem.It's good to address those kind of problems in funny movies.
Movie Review: Bernie Mac should be a BIG star
Summary: 4 Stars
I did NOT have high hopes for this, when it was marketed as an Ashton Kutcher comedy based on a switcheroo on the "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" premise. Girlfriend Theresa and Simon (Kutcher's part) return to her home for her parents' 25th wedding anniversary, but she has neglected to tell her parents he is white. It just wasn't clear to me that when an upscale black girl brings home a goofy white guy hilarity would automatically ensue.
The fellow who lifts this above its premise is Bernie Mac, playing Percy Jones, the father of girlfriend Theresa. The part is a parody of a parody - Dad makes Ashton sleep on the sofabed to keep him out of Daughter's bed, Dad gets into slapstick competition with Ashton because he doesn't think the dude is good enough for his daughter, etc. But Mac is not only a gifted verbal comic, he is a world-class physical comedian. At the same time he endows this silly part with a real dignity - you can really believe this is a guy who holds his family together, who loves his wife as much as he did 25 years ago.
I don't need to see another parody of a Spencer Tracy movie (I can't imagine anyone who would actually), but I'd love to see more of Bernie Mac.
Movie Review: Pretty funny, if you can get past the embarassment
Summary: 4 Stars
I thought that the movie was pretty funny, but there were so many places during the movie where I cringed with embarassment for Ashton's character. He had to jump through some major hoops and not a soul on her side of the family was truly helping. Being in an interracial marriage myself, I understood some of the uncomfortable scenes. There was quite a bit of stereotypical mumbo jumbo that seems to always be put in movies on this topic, but all in all a pretty good little comedy. As a side note, I thought they made such a cute couple. Thumbs up in my opinion.Movie Review: Reasonably Funny, But The Romance Angle Drags It Down
Summary: 3 Stars
"Guess Who" is a two-headed beast. It's a decent buddy comedy featuring an over-protective father and his goofy, soon-to-be son-in-law. It's also a mild and somewhat boring romantic comedy. When the primary characters, Percy Jones(Bernie Mac) and Simon Green(Ashton Kutcher), interact with each other, the film manages to conjure some solid laughs from the viewer. But when Kutcher and Mac attempt to be romantic with their respective female leads, this flick falls apart.
Taking it's main plotline from "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner," this film manages to give the viewer a role-reversal in race relations. I have to admit that it was nice to see the white guy on the receiving end of prejudice in a film. Remember folks, racists aren't always white. Mac's character pushes this particular matter to a head at the dinner table, where he makes Kutcher tell some black jokes. At first, the jokes are relatively tame, cute even, but one joke in particular nudges Mac over the edge, and I personally believe that his reaction was uncalled for in the situation. To be honest, I've heard plenty of other black jokes that could send anybody, no matter what their color, reeling with anger or embarassment, depending on which end of the spectrum you are on. The particular joke that Kutcher tells is offensive, but it is no more offensive than any of the previous jokes that he tells. He is made out to be the bad man, even though he was simply giving Mac what he wanted.
As stated before, the film falls flat when romance is thrown into the equation. Had this film stuck with the buddy comedy routine, it probably would have been much better. Bernie Mac is much funnier than Percy Jones allows him to be, and Kutcher is just too much of a dolt to be a believable successful and sweet guy.
Mildly recommended, though there are much better comedies out there right now.