Bernie Mac is great. Writing is pretty awful.

A remake of the 1967 “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, “Guess Who” stars Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher in an awkward romantic / racial comedy that is rather watered-down. Yes – there are plenty of funny moments and most all of them come from Bernie Mac. Mac plays Percy Jones – a successful banker, an over protective father, a slight maniac, and (of course) a black man. When Percy’s daughter Teresea (Zoe Saldana) brings her boyfriend Simon (Ashton Kutcher) home to meet the family, things get ugly when everyone realizes hes white.

That’s the premise of the movie: an inter-racial version of “Meet the Parents” – except its missing the great writing, Stiller & Wilson, etc. Bernie Mac is certainly a capable actor and comedian – but his performance gets lost in the watered down and cliché writing. It also gets lost around Ashton Kutcher who struggles to play anything more than the cute and uncomfortable boyfriend.

If you like Bernie Mac, this movie will get you to laugh. Other than that, I found little else to enjoy. I’d sooner recommend “Meet the Parents” or “Meet the Fockers” before “Guess Who.”

Sample Guess Who quote:
Theresa Jones: I was just showing Simon around the house.
Simon Green: You have a very nice house, Mrs. Jones.
Marilyn Jones (mother): Thank you. You can call me Marilyn.
Simon Green: You too, Mr. Jones.
Percy Jones (father): You can call me Mr. Jones.

Guess Who (DVD, 2005)

When Theresa (Zoe Saldana) brings fiance Simon Green (Ashton Kutcher) home for her parents' 25th wedding anniversary, she's neglected to mention one tiny detail - he's white. Determined to break his daughter's engagement, Percy Jones (Bernie Mac) does everything he can to make Simon feel "apart" of the family, from running his credit report to locking him in the basement at night. But when Percy gleefully exposes Simon's most embarrassing secret, it leads to an outrageous series of comic complications that only goes to prove that with a dad like Percy Jones, father doesn't always know best.

DVD Guess Who

Ashton Kutcher stars in this remake of the 1967 classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? But the tables are turned this time around, as he plays the fiancé of an African-American woman who's met with skepticism and suspicion from her father. Tension flares -- along with comedy -- when she takes him home for the all-important introduction, and as the wedding approaches, Dad must come to terms with his future son-in-law.

FABULOUSO

This movie has you laughing from beginning to end. Remakes of older movies tend to either fall short of being good or have such a different slant that it almost doesn't seem like a remake. This one leaves you feeling good at the end!

In most cases, cultural differences would not be so funny, but the performances of Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher are just hilarious. A daughter bringing home her fiance' to her parents home for the first time can be daunting enough, then add in the fact that he is of another race and eyebrows go up (whether it is intentional or otherwise). To watch how Bernie tries to see if Ashton is man enough for his daughter while also putting aside the cultural difference is laugh out loud funny. In the end, Ashton is all the man Bernie expects for his daughter and we are left with the feeling that people are people, no matter what their skin color.

Anyone who loves comedy will want to add this one to the collection! Two Thumbs Up...Way Up!

hilarious while breaking a racial barrier

This movie is great, it's good clean entertainment. Bernie Mac plays an over-protective father, especially when he sees his daughter is dating a white boy. Ashton Kutcher is the nervous dater of his daughter. At first he is very timid and scared of Bernie, but he ends up letting Bernie know that him and his daughter is a very real deal. For most of the movie you see Bernie Mac doing anything to try to get Ashton Kutcher away from his daughter. Later on however, Bernie and Ashton are forced to work together to get their ladies back. I don't want to give away the movie, but I will say, this movie is hilarious and it pokes fun at the racial barrier we have in our country, which is good I think.