Plot
A sarcastic father (Mac) has plenty to say about his daughter wanting to marry a white boy (Kutcher).
Release Year: 2005
Rating: 5.7/10 (20,371 voted)
Critic's Score: 49/100
Director:
Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Bernie Mac, Zoe Saldana
Storyline Percy and Marilyn are renewing their vows for their anniversary, and their daughter Theresa brings her boyfriend Simon for them to meet. Unbeknownst to her parents, the kids plan to announce their engagement during the weekend. The Jones family is Black; Theresa neglects to tell them Simon is White. Race complicates Percy's general mistrust of any boyfriend, so he instigates an investigation of Simon, discovering he's recently lost his job and hasn't told Theresa. Mistrust rears its ugly head, and in the process of Theresa and Simon's argument, Marilyn and Percy fall out. What can the men do to cross the divide between each other and between men and women? Will anyone be exchanging vows?
Writers: William Rose, David Ronn
Cast: Bernie Mac
-
Percy Jones
Ashton Kutcher
-
Simon Green
Zoe Saldana
-
Theresa Jones
(as Zoë Saldaña)
Judith Scott
-
Marilyn Jones
Hal Williams
-
Howard Jones
Kellee Stewart
-
Keisha Jones
Robert Curtis Brown
-
Dante
RonReaco Lee
-
Reggie
(as Ronreaco Lee)
Paula Newsome
-
Darlene
Phil Reeves
-
Fred
Sherri Shepherd
-
Sydney
Nicole Sullivan
-
Liz Klein
Jessica Cauffiel
-
Polly
JoNell Kennedy
-
Winnie
(as Jonell Kennedy)
Niecy Nash
-
Naomi
Filming Locations: 500 N Almansor St, Alhambra, California, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $35,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $20,671,446
(USA)
(27 March 2005)
(3147 Screens)
Gross: $67,962,333
(USA)
(22 May 2005)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) mandated that William Rose be credited for his work on the original
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. However, he is never actually mentioned in this movie.
Goofs:
Miscellaneous:
Even though the studio spent "$100,000" to digitally remove Ashton's red Kabbalah bracelet, it can still be clearly seen when he is drinking coffee in the "breakfast scene."
Quotes: Howard Jones:
You didn't tell me he was white! Percy:
Yes, I did, back at the retirement home. Howard Jones:
I thought you was kidding.
User Review
An Enjoyable Light Comedy
Rating: 6/10
Percy Jones (Bernie Mac) is trying to protect his daughter Theresa (Zoe
Saldana) from ending up with the wrong guy, and though he does a
thorough background check on her new boyfriend Simon (Ashton Kutcher),
there's only one thing his research didn't tell him. He's white and he
wants to marry his daughter.
The "meeting the parents" premise has been done to death recently with
Monster-in Law and Meet the Fockers being the most recent films.
However, what the film lacks in originality, it makes it up with
laughs. There were a lot of funny moments and the movie hardly ever got
boring. However, most of the funny bits were used in the trailer and
this makes the jokes a little less effective since they are already
expected. Also, the repeat value of the movie is very low. It's worth
watching once but that's pretty much it. I don't think that's a bad
thing since most light comedies are like that.
I think the film works well because of the two leads. Both Bernie Mac
and Ashton Kutcher give funny performances and they have nice chemistry
together. Their scenes were the best and they never felt forced. Zoe
Saldana also gives a good performance and she has come a long way from
appearing in Crossroads. Most of the supporting actors are also funny
including Judith Scott, who plays Bernie Mac's wife. Mike Epps also
makes a cameo though it wasn't that good.
Kevin Rodney Sullivan directs and he only does an okay job. The first
half of the film is pretty funny and the racial issues are handled
lightly. During the second half, the film becomes all serious and it's
kind of awkward. The director ditches the laughs for awhile and he
approaches the issue in a mature manner. It kind of works but some of
the serious scenes felt fake. It seemed like the actors were about to
burst out laughing at any second and the film also got kind of dull.
The ending was surprisingly strong though. The changes of tone in the
film worked out okay but they weren't as effective as they could have
been. In the end, Guess Who is worth a rental, nothing more though.
Rating 7/10
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