Guess Who

While Bernie Mac is no Katherine Hepburn, and Ashton Kutcher isn't quite Sidney Poitier, the two combine to put together a fairly funny, and surprisingly touching, movie in "Guess Who". Loosely based on the 1967 classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", this one still addresses societal issues while also provoking consistent amounts of comedy.

The premise sounds like "Meet the Parents", as Theresa Jones (Zoe Saldana) brings her boyfriend Simon (Kutcher) home for the first time to celebrate her parents (Mac, Judith Scott) wedding anniversary. The complication is that the Jones family is black and Simon is white, and Zoe didn't bother to mention this to the family. While the majority of the story rides this one factor, the overall concept deals with relationships and trust.

Mac as Percy Jones is really at the heart of the comedy throughout, with Kutcher as more of the straight man. Percy clearly wouldn't trust any man dating his daughter, but the fact that Simon isn't black completely throws him for a loop. What makes the movie work, though, is how well each character plays
off the other. Whether it's Mac/Kutcher, Kutcher/Saldana, Saldana/Mac, or Mac/Scott, each relationship simply clicks, seems real, and makes the story believable. "Guess Who" was better than I had expected. I give it a B+.

"Guess Who" is rated PG-13 with a running time of 97 minutes.