Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor.
Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan (Barbershop II, How Stella Got Her Groove Back)
Starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher
Guess Who is a romantic comedy that keeps you laughing while touching on some serious issues.
In 1967 America saw a young white girl (played by Katharine Houghton, Katharine Hepburn’s niece) bring home a young black man (played by Sidney Poitier) to her parents (played by Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. And in 1967, sadly, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy’s characters probably didn’t totally represent white America accurately. Most white parents wouldn’t have been ready for their daughter to bring home a black fiancé.
In 2005’s Guess Who, the roles are reversed. Now black America is faced with “What if our daughter brought a white boy home?”
Ashton Kutcher plays Simon: white boy. Bernie Mac plays Percy: disapproving black father. When Theresa brings Simon home to meet her daddy . . . it doesn’t go well. Simon has to gain Percy’s trust and approval, which proves to be a difficult task. Percy has to learn to look internally, not externally.
Guess Who has the comedic elements of Meet the Parents and Father of the Bride as well as the interracial struggles of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Fools Rush In. But Guess Who holds its own with strong performances from Mac and Kutcher. It also brings enough romance to the script to make it an okay date flick.
I enjoyed it as a date flick with my wife. Not enough to make my “Top 15 Date Flicks List” on my TOP 10 MOVIE LIST page, but definitely good.
You should absolutely check out the original 1967 film as well if you haven’t already seen it. It was Spencer Tracy’s last film. The story is very well done and Hepburn, Tracy and Poitier are all incredible in it.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Not young ones. Most the jokes have to do with dating and marriage and will go over their heads. The film has no sex or nudity, but it includes typical morals of today’s generation where it is implied that couples sleep together before marriage and feel free to make frequent crude sexual jokes.
Profanity is typical of a PG-13 film, words I don’t really want my kids hearing.
Will kids want to see it? Of course! To generation Y, Ashton Kutcher might be the most popular male actor of 2005. He has won more Teen Choice Awards than anyone, ever! His show Punked draws a regular audience of teenagers of all races and connects him with other superstars of the day. Most kids today will be drawn to this film.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
