Guess Who

Herald rating * *

You might think you know what you're going to get in this remake of the 1967 classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. After all, it stars Ashton Kutcher, the pretty-boy king of goofball acting, in a role that seems bound to make him look like a dufus at every chance it gets. Kutcher plays Simon, an investor who has just quit his job and is off to meet his black fiancee's parents for the first time. Bernie Mac plays her hard-to-please father who doesn't like the idea of his princess dating a white guy and goes to extremes to prove he's a bad egg.

Problem is, Guess Who doesn't seem to know what it is. At times it's a fun rom-com that pokes fun at racial stereotypes and the age-old chestnut of meeting the folks. At other times it's an earnest drama that tries too hard not to be politically incorrect. The funniest moments are when the film doesn't take itself too seriously - such as dad mistaking the black cab driver for the boyfriend, the series of black jokes Simon is forced to tell over dinner, the uncomfortable atmosphere where the car radio plays only songs like Ebony and Ivory.

Kutcher looks confused as to whether he's meant to play funny or nice, and there aren't enough foot-in-mouth opportunities to justify his toning down his goofishness - Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents he ain't.

Mac and Kutcher's rapport is easy to watch but the plot is not as fast-paced as it should be. It's almost as though they're trying to justify the love between a mixed-race couple by throwing in as many soppy moments as possible, something the annoyingly over-the-top Zoe Saldana takes to like a duck to water.

As a result, it's painfully drawn out. In the scene at the end where she gets het up over practically nothing, you're almost wishing they don't get back together again.

Guess Who is harmless and is predictably sentimental but by the time the credits roll you're left wondering what the point is.

CAST: Ashton Kutcher, Bernie Mac, Zoe Saldana
DIRECTOR: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
RUNNING TIME: 106 mins
RATING: M SCREENING: Village, Hoyts