Guess Who

 

 

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"Guess Who" is a mere two words of the original title, "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner." Too bad it has an even smaller fraction of the comic value. This awkward racial comedy is watered down and goofed up, and only Bernie Mac's performance gets a chance to shine. Too bad he wasn't opposite the Wilson brothers.

The original 1967 race comedy had a white girl bringing her African-American fiancee home. This time there is a reversal: Percy (Bernie Mac) and wife Marilyn (Judith Scott) are sort-of-eagerly awaiting the arrival of their young daughter Teresa (Zoe Saldana), who is supposed to bring her fiancee there. They expected a nice, financially stable, black man. What they get: A goofy, well-to-do white guy, Simon (Ashton Kutcher).

Percy isn't exactly pleased with this, especially after some "Meet the Parents" stunts like Simon prancing around in lingerie. He does have to admit that Simon's past career has been "a thing of beauty," but more problems arise when they learn that Simon has actually quit his job recently.

I'm not sure why they bill "Guess Who" as a remake. It has almost nothing in common with the original -- even the title feels goofily incomplete. ("Guess Who"? Guess who what?) The hot-button race relations are replaced with oddball slapstick. And Sidney Poitier's elegant performance is replaced by... Ashton Kutcher. I think the problems are obvious.

But even taken by itself, "Guess Who" feels like a race-based version of "Meet the Parents," with the awkward young man meeting his future in-laws, except with an even thinner storyline. Kevin Rodney Sullivan simply doesn't seem to have enough funny scenarios to flesh out a simple storyline, so he fills it in with sitcommish antics and awkward interactions.

There is one redeeming factor to this movie -- outside the framework of the 1960s, it displays that racism is not restricted to one race. Unfortunately, it gets mired in scenes like Mac and Kutcher sharing a bed in the basement. It could have had a strong message, but it chickens out.

The two leads are a study in opposites. Bernie Mac gives a really fun performance as the father-in-law from hell, and he plays the role with such aplomb that he redeems many a flagging scene. Kutcher, on the other hand, hasn't made a single good career decision since signing onto "That 70s Show," and this isn't going to break the trend. In "Guess Who," he is bland. Very bland. Bland bland bland. Forget white -- he's white bread.

"Guess Who" won't keep you guessing -- this lame comedy is strictly by the numbers. It has the occasional moments of excellence, but besides Mac's performance, it's a bomb that probably has Poitier rolling his eyes.

I hate to admit that I actually watched an Ashton Kutcher movie (but, in my defense, it did have the very funny Bernie Mac in it), much less that I actually enjoyed it. Not for Kutcher, of course, who makes Keanu Reeves look like a master thespian, but despite him. Bernie Mac pretty much carries the movie single-handedly; every scene without him is something of a chore to get through.

The premise is very simple. Percy Jones (Bernie Mac) is quite horrified when his daughter Theresa (Zoe Saldana) brings home her new boyfriend for her parents' twenty-fifth anniversary celebration. Percy had checked up on our boy Simon Green (Kutcher) and was quite encouraged by his credit report and the fact that he worked for a prestigious investment firm (at least, he did work for a prestigious investment firm - but he quit just before making the trip to meet his prospective in-laws, a fact that no one, including Theresa, knows about yet). Simon isn't what he was expecting at all, though - not by a long shot. It has a lot to do with the fact that Simon is white, but let's face it - every father's worst nightmare is the thought of his baby girl bringing Ashton Kutcher home with her. It's not even completely about race; the boy is just not right in the head, and Percy thinks he's hiding something (which he is). This father takes extraordinary steps to make sure Simon and his little girl don't get up to any hanky-panky there in his house - and who can blame him for that? As the days pass, things don't get any better, much comic hilarity ensues (capped off with a round of ethnic jokes told around the dinner table), and there's a big row that temporarily splits up both couples. Wouldn't it be funny if, just once, a movie didn't go for the pat, obvious ending? I think it would, but we'll have to wait a little longer to know for sure because Guess Who plays out just as you knew it would.

This is a comedy, and it doesn't try to be anything more than that. Without Bernie Mac, it would have flopped like a fish out of water, but Bernie Mac can make anything funny, even scenes with Ashton Kutcher. He really ought to get some kind of award for that - maybe a special Oscar for actually making an Ashton Kutcher film funny and enjoyable.

Guess Who was a lighthearted look at racial prejudices with some genuinely funny moments. Ashton Kutcher could well be the next (toned down) Jim Carry - his comical facial expressions are a delight to watch.

I would have expected that a movie attempting to bring down racial barriers would also have taken the high road towards homosexuality - but sadly this was not the case - the homophobic gags made me uncomfortable.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Copy of "Meet the Parents"
Some funny moments, but generally a bore. I felt this movie was a copy of Meet the Parents - just substituting actors and adding a racial element for humour and dramatic effect.

Published on Aug 9 2005 by D. Will

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