MOVIE REVIEW
Guess Who’s making audiences laugh BY ANNA LOUSTAUNAU For the Daily Titan
Meeting the in-laws can be an intimidating experience to some, but for Ashton Kutcher, anxiety takes on a whole new level when coming face-to-face with Bernie Mac. Columbia Pictures “Guess Who” is a hilarious hoot of funny mishaps, eye-popping jokes and awkward moments where characters must learn to tolerate one another in the stickiest of situations. The excitement begins with respectful African-American parents Percy (Mac) and Marilyn (Judith Scott) Jones eagerly anticipating their daughter Theresa’s (Zoe Saldana) arrival with her new, successful boyfriend Simon (Kutcher)
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in time for their wedding renewal celebration. According to Theresa, Simon is perfect. He is ambitious, intelligent, charismatic and incredibly handsome. There is just one minor detail she leaves out: he is of the Caucasian race. As joke after joke backfires, cars crash and a particular dinner turns sour, it is apparent that Percy and Simon have absolutely nothing in common and can agree on even less. However, when a petty event takes hold of the Jones’ household, it brings the two closer in (literal) ways they would never have expected. Starring Kutcher and Mac as the dynamic comic duo in the funny flick, “Guess Who” was cleverly written (and adapted) by William Rose, the same man who wrote the classic 1967 parental success “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (concerning a similar disastrous situation of an interracial couple with their in-laws), directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan. In fact, when Rose is questioned about his motives for “Guess Who,” he says the idea of “his 12year-old daughter being part of an interracial pair is enough to push him to work out any external feelings beforehand.” While Saldana is incredible as the beautiful and artistically spirited girlfriend in the story, it is actually Kutcher, with his successful portrayal as an intellectual businessman, and Mac, playing an uptight protective father, who light the victory match for viewers nationwide this weekend. Judith Scott, as the strongminded Marilyn, also adds a bit of her own individual zeal to turn the motherly role from dull to dynamic in a matter of minutes with her swift comments and good heart.
Daily Titan April 07, 2005
Although resembling other inlaw movies such as “Meet the Parents” and “The In-Laws,” “Guess Who” displays more than just the usual messages of “parental prejudice and racial humor,” but of “honest ethnic acceptance and empowering love” as well. While there are probably few too many offensive jokes towards African-Americans displayed onscreen, in all honesty, it appears that Caucasians take more dirt for their color than anyone else in this short hour-and-a half film. In a few words, “Guess Who” is a laugh-out-loud riot full of talented actors, uproarious entertainment and genuine acceptance of all friends and family.
Columbia Pictures
