Guess Who: Rating: 1 / 10
This movie season leaves something to be desired. Yet another dud has come our way. Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac join forces (which almost makes a half of a comedian) in their new race-themed flick "Guess Who," which is apparently a remake of the 1967 classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."
"Guess Who" is a blend of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "Meet the Parents," only not funny like some think "Parents" is nor challenging for its time like some thought "Dinner" was. With the tagline, "Some in-laws are meant to be broken," how could one expect it to be?
Kutcher plays Simon, a successful 20-something who is engaged to Theresa, played by Zoe Saldana of "Crossroads" fame. Theresa is bringing Simon home to meet her parents and announce their engagement. Unfortunately, Theresa failed to mention to Bernie Mac that (caution: spoiler ahead) Ashton Kutcher is white. Shock, awe and race jokes ensue. It would be a laugh riot if it weren't so unfunny - race jokes are usually hilarious with a capital "H." Especially if they are offensive and unnecessary.
You know you aren't watching a good movie when the main plot device is Ashton Kutcher's ethnicity. Just in case we weren't sure, Bernie Mac was more than happy to remind us that Ashton Kutcher is not a black man pretty much every three minutes of the flick. That basically explains the first three-quarters of the movie - until they ran out of film and had Bernie Mac's character suddenly become OK with the fact that Kutcher is white. And then the credits roll.
There are a couple of moments that were funny. But by funny I mean I stopped weeping with pity to myself for a second in order to let out a small chuckle. And then I went right back to weeping.
One of the parts that really twisted the knife and made me weep really loudly was when Kutcher and Mac race with go-karts for close to 10 minutes. Oh, the stupidity.
Bernie Mac is pretty good and has decent comedic timing. Ashton Kutcher, however, remains a powerhouse of awful. So I blame Kelso for the terrible film, not Bernie.
Race is an important point of discussion. It's an interesting move to make a movie that tokenizes a white person instead of the other way around. But the people behind "Guess Who" don't try to do anything interesting with it. The movie is simple-minded and cliché, and the jokes are obvious and gimmicky.
Comedy is supposed to be a way to deal with reality, but "Guess Who" uses concepts and jokes that have been used for decades. Frankly, it's about time to change it.
At the end of the film, I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to come out in his slightly sideways baseball cap and say, "Hey Audience! You've just been Punk'd!" and then obnoxiously laugh for a few minutes. The tragedy is that he does not.