‘Guess’ dances around race

The press kit for the film “Guess Who” is a faux leather-bound family photo album featuring a shot of stars Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac uneasily seated at opposite ends of a yellow couch. When you open the kit, Mac slides menacingly to his left until he’s elbow-to-elbow with the cowering Kutcher.

Unfortunately, that may be the most clever thing about this innocuous comedy, titled to suggest Stanley Kramer’s 1967 melodrama, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” which starred Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn in what was then considered a daring look at interracial coupling.

“Guess Who” reverses the roles, with Mac serving as the concerned father awaiting the arrival of his daughter’s new beau; Kutcher plays the Poitier part. However, the film feels more like a remake of the 1970s TV sitcom “The Jeffersons” -- minus its caustic wit.

Director Kevin Rodney Sullivan milks the film’s one joke for all it’s worth -- which isn’t much -- before settling into the rote rhythms of a buddy picture. Mac and Kutcher have an easy chemistry, which makes the confection go down easily enough, and Judith Scott and Zoe Saldana acquit themselves well as Mac’s wife and daughter, respectively, but all four actors seem constrained by the bland familiarity of the plot and dialogue attributed to writers David Ronn, Jay Scherick and Peter Tolan.

Saldana and Kutcher play Theresa Jones and Simon Green, a young couple happily in love and living in a Manhattan loft on the joys of a dual income. She’s an artsy photographer, he’s a hotshot stockbroker -- easily the most overused cinematic occupations of the last 15 years -- but somehow they’re making it work. They pack up for a weekend trek to New Jersey to meet Theresa’s parents and break the news of their engagement on the occasion of the Jones’ 25th anniversary and renewal of their vows.

The red herring here is Simon’s whiter-shade-of-pale skin and Percy Jones’ (Mac’s) reaction when he discovers that his future son-in-law is not the Tiger Woods of Wall Street. Percy, a loan officer at a bank and ever-skeptical of Theresa’s usual artiste boyfriends, has run a credit check on Simon and found him to be first-rate. His main concerns are that his daughter find a man who will treat her well and not have sex with her under his roof.

In fact, Percy actually seems more homophobic than racist. He is suspicious that Simon does not play sports and is extremely uncomfortable with the metrosexuality of Dante (Robert Curtis Brown), the broadly effeminate yet straight man planning the anniversary party.

Race is seldom dealt with head-on in Hollywood films, so it’s no real surprise that “Guess Who” cops out. Other than the initial setup and some timid, cliched attempts to broach the subject, the color of the characters’ skin is nearly superfluous. The story’s engine revolves around Simon not telling Theresa that he has just quit his job, and then lying about it. The film refers to the treatment that Theresa and Simon face as an interracial couple but never shows it.

The one scene that really focuses on the issue is a family dinner in which Percy goads Simon into telling some jokes that tiptoe up to and then cross the line of what apparently is acceptable. The scene is a little uncomfortable and almost feels dangerous -- something the rest of the film lacks -- but even it fizzles out.

The presence of Mac accentuates the sense of a lost opportunity for a trenchant, timely satire. He is an actor of paradoxical talents that would be perfect for something with an edge. He is so good at portraying slow burns, searing side glances and underlying rage that his bulging eyes hint at the possibility of imminent spontaneous combustion. At the same time, his Cheshire grin and knowing walk smack of contented cool. This hot/cold duality makes for tantalizing possibilities that are sadly not to be found here.

It says something about the timidity of the corporate-dominated entertainment industry that a contemporary film lacks the audacity of a 30-year-old sitcom.

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‘Guess Who’

MPAA rating: PG-13 for sex-related humor.

Times guidelines: Mild race-based humor.

Bernie Mac...Percy Jones

Ashton Kutcher...Simon Green

Zoe Saldana...Theresa Jones

Judith Scott...Marilyn Jones

Columbia Pictures and Regency Enterprises present a 3 Arts/Tall Trees/Katalyst Films production, released by Sony Pictures Distribution. Director Kevin Rodney Sullivan. Producers Jenno Topping, Erwin Stoff, Jason Goldberg. Executive producers Betty Thomas, Steven Greener, Joseph M. Caracciolo. Screenplay by David Ronn, & Jay Scherick and Peter Tolan, story by Ronn & Scherick. Director of photography Karl Walter Lindenlaub. Editor Paul Seydor. Costume designer Judy Ruskin Howell. Music John Murphy. Production designer Paul J. Peters. Art director Gary Kosko. Set decorator Kathryn Peters-Cardinale. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

In general release.

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By the numbers / The Mac who would be king

For the arrival of “Guess Who,” Calendar looks at the box office for some of the movies of Bernie Mac. In some, he’s part of an ensemble, but since he came to broader attention with “The Original Kings of Comedy,” Mac is usually good even if a movie doesn’t work.

Film (year released) / Domestic gross (in millions)

“Ocean’s Eleven” (‘01) / $183.4

“Ocean’s Twelve” (‘04) / $125.5

“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (‘03) / $100.8

“Life” (‘99) / $63.9

“Bad Santa” (‘03) / $60.1

“The Original Kings of Comedy” (‘00) / $38.2

“Head of State” (‘03) / $38.1

“What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” (‘01) / $32.3

“Friday” (‘95) / $27.5

“The Players Club” (‘98) / $23.0

Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.