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Guess Who (film)

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Guess Who
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKevin Rodney Sullivan
Screenplay byDavid Ronn
Jay Scherick
Peter Tolan
Story byDavid Ronn
Jay Scherick
Based onGuess Who's Coming to Dinner
by William Rose
Produced byJenno Topping
Erwin Stoff
Jason Goldberg
StarringBernie Mac
Ashton Kutcher
Zoë Saldaña
Judith Scott
CinematographyKarl Walter Lindenlaub
Edited byPaul Seydor
Music byJohn Murphy
Production
companies
Columbia Pictures
Regency Enterprises
Epsilon Motion Pictures (uncredited)
3 Arts Entertainment
Tall Trees Productions
Katalyst Media
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing (United States)
20th Century Fox (International)
Release date
  • March 25, 2005 (2005-03-25)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million
Box office$103.1 million

Guess Who is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan. A loose remake of the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the film follows a white man (Ashton Kutcher) meeting the parents (Bernie Mac and Judith Scott) of his black fiancée (Zoë Saldaña).

The majority of the film was filmed in Cranford, New Jersey.[1] The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $103 million.

Plot

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Theresa Jones takes her boyfriend, Simon Green, to her parents' home to meet them on their 25th wedding anniversary, planning to reveal that the couple are engaged. However, Theresa has neglected to mention that Simon is white. Theresa's father, Percy, dislikes Simon almost immediately not only because of his race, but also because he lies to him about being on the NASCAR pit crew for Jeff Gordon, not realizing that Percy is one of Gordon's biggest fans. Marilyn, Percy's wife, however, likes Simon when they first meet. Percy also happens to stumble on Simon jokingly wearing Theresa's lingerie while the couple is playing around in her childhood bedroom. None of this helps endear Simon to Percy.

After catching Theresa and Simon in the bedroom, Percy tries to force Simon into a hotel, but all the hotels in town are booked. Instead, Percy allows Simon to sleep in his basement on the couch, where Percy also sleeps so he can keep an eye on him even though the pull-out bed hurts his back.

With the help of his personal assistant Reggie, Percy tries to learn as much information about Simon as he can as well as creating the ideal black boyfriend for Theresa instead of revealing her boyfriend is white. Reggie manages to convince Simon to reveal that he lied about being a NASCAR pit crew member and also that he needs a $50,000 loan. Simon discovers Percy's lies just as Reggie reveals that Simon quit his job. Immediately, Percy goes to tell Theresa this new information; however, Simon claims he was not fired and instead quit. Furious that he did not tell her the truth, Theresa leaves while Percy's spying and plagiarism of his vows temporarily strains his relationship with his wife, Marilyn.

The next morning, Percy and Simon find Marilyn and Theresa at Marilyn's sister's house to apologize. While Marilyn and Percy reconcile, Simon and Theresa break up and he leaves. On the day of his anniversary, Theresa tells her father that she and Simon were intending to marry. After wondering why a man intending to get married would quit his job, Percy realizes that Simon quit his job due to his boss' disapproval of interracial relationships. Percy pursues Simon and brings him back to Theresa, and they reconcile at Percy and Marilyn's anniversary party.

Cast

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Production

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The film's working title was The Dinner Party. At one point, Harold Ramis was slated to direct.[2]

Reception

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Box office

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Guess Who grossed $68.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $34.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $103.1 million.[3]

The film made $20.7 million in its opening weekend, finishing first. It then made $12.7 million in its second weekend and $7.8 million in its third, finishing in third and fourth, respectively.[4]

Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes, 41% of 150 reviews are considered positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Despite the chemistry of its stars, Guess Who, a loose remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, lacks the political relevance of the original."[5] As per Metacritic, the film has received "mixed or average reviews", with a weighted average score of 49/100 based on 34 critics' ratings.[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

USA Today said of the film, "A succession of tired race jokes made worse by the bad comedic timing of the bland, under-talented Ashton Kutcher", The Wall Street Journal said, "Guess Who is, impurely and simply, a comic premise borrowed, turned around and dumbed down to the level of sketch or sub-sketch humour" and Rolling Stone said, "Guess what? It's almost bearable".[7]

More positive reviews included The Baltimore Sun, which said, "The movie's sweetness, wit and charm go beyond its can't-we-all-just-get-along premise".[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Renna Media | Cranford Chosen for HBO Series - The Plot Against America". September 12, 2019.
  2. ^ Friend, Tad (19 April 2004). "Comedy First: How Harold Ramis's movies have stayed funny for twenty-five years". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  3. ^ Guess Who (2005) - Box Office Mojo
  4. ^ https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2404877825/weekend/?ref_=bo_rl_tab#tabs
  5. ^ "Guess Who". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 15, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  6. ^ "Guess Who". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  7. ^ Guess Who (2005) - IMDB Critic Reviews
  8. ^ Sragow, Michael (2005-03-25). "Dream Pairing". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
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