FanUnity B(uzz)log

We all know the type of movie that looks pretty damn funny in the trailers, but when you actually see it, you realize that clever marketing people managed to pack every ounce of humor into the preview, leaving the film itself a hollow disappointment except for the five or six jokes you were waiting for. "Guess Who" is that type of film. It is also a movie that wants to make a point about race, but fails to either out of ADD or cowardice.

The most interesting thing about "Guess Who" is that it sort of turns the table on the traditional race question by having a smart, pretty young black girl (Zoe Saldana) bring her white boyfriend (Ashton Kutcher) home to meet her grumpy and demanding father (Bernie Mac). Percy Jones, Bernie Mac's character, treats Kutcher's character in a bigoted fashion and tries to justify it through the normal overprotectiveness of a father. His real intentions show when at work he lies about Kutcher being his daughter's boyfriend, making a fictional black basketball superstar boyfriend for her when describing him to his work buddy. Percy Jones even baits Kutcher's character into telling racially motivated jokes at dinner with the Jones family, which he manages to navigate through innocously until that one joke that crosses the line triggering the inevitable upsetting of the family. Despite these examples, the film really pussyfoots its way around the race issue. It does not examine whether or not Percy Jones is racist, but simply seems satisfied to christen Kutcher's character a non-bigot and leave it at that. It doesn't really reflect much on the idea that maybe it was Kutcher's character that was treated unfairly because of the color of his skin. Maybe the director thought going further than this in a comedy would have been too heavy, but, you know, at that point he probably shouldn't have referenced a controversial commentary on race like "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" in his title. As a social commentary, "Guess Who" isn't very compelling.

From a comedic perspective, this movie is more of a remake of "Meet The Parents" with the issue of race thrown into the mix. You get a few scenes that feel like they were ripped off completely, only not executed as well, such as the "uncomfortable car ride" and generally the fact that everything Kutcher does to impress Percy Jones completely backfires just the same way Gaylord Focker's attempts to win Jack Byrnes over did in the better film.

Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher are gifted comedic actors. Like Will Ferrell, Bernie Mac strikes me as someone who shines in supporting roles but has a hard time carrying a film as a lead. The act just sort of wears thin for a whole movie for both of those guys. Kutcher, recently annointed the most powerful young man in Hollywood or somesuch, has a real future ahead of him. Both of these guys have great screen presence and made the film watchable.

"Guess Who" is a sort of "Meet The Parents" lite, with a little bit of meandering conversation about race thrown in that forgets to make its point. Or maybe it doesn't have a point. One of the great lines of "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" is where young Charlie says one of the great things about candy is that it doesn't have to have a point. Unfortunately for the people who made "Guess Who", social commentaries do have to have a point, and the movie doesn't make up for it with oodles of scrumpdidlyumptious morsels of comedic goodness.

1.5/5 Stars.