Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 29, 1993 TAG: 9305290047
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On paper, it's a film that should not work. The plot revolves around a gimmicky interracial love story. It's told with broad physical humor and a blatantly liberal political stand. Then it ends with an unabashed endorsement of education and love of family.
That ought to be a formula for failure, but somewhere in the mixture, the filmmakers found that elusive "chemistry," and the movie became a real crowd-pleaser.
Sarah Matthews (Whoopi Goldberg) owns and runs the African Queen bookstore in San Francisco. Her life is going smoothly until her daughter, Zora (Nia Long), a high school senior, discovers that her blood type is AB negative. That means her mother lied about the man Zora believes to be her biological father. He died before she was born, and now she wants to know what's what.
Sarah admits that she was artificially inseminated, but that's not enough for Zora. With the assistance of her best friend (Will Smith), she goes to the sperm bank and manages to find the name of the donor. Even though her mother had asked for someone "black, intelligent and not too tall," it turns out that this fellow is white. If that weren't enough, he's a used-car salesman!
Hal Jackson (Ted Danson) is notorious for his TV commercials featuring loud Western outfits and animals. In his private life, he's a rich, lonely bachelor who's carrying on with a younger aerobics-obsessed cutie (Jennifer Tilly). When he, Sarah and Zora meet, they find that they have strong, mixed reactions to each other.
For Zora, no matter what color Hal is or what he does, he's her father. Sarah realizes that Hal's admiration and pride in her daughter's intelligence and accomplishments are genuine, and maybe he's really not that bad a guy -- once you get past the pickup truck and cowboy hat. On Hal's part, the two women represent a real emotional commitment, the kind he has never made.
On one level, the script by Holly Goldberg Sloan is predictable, but it's got enough surprises and enough laughs to keep audiences interested. If it's a bit heavy-handed and preachy toward the end, the message bears repeating. Director Richard Benjamin turns in his usual understated, competent work. In such films as "My Favorite Year" and "Racing With the Moon," he's shown that he can handle character-based stories, and he does it again here.
Whatever the truth of the tabloid reports of their off-screen affair, Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg are a believable couple who seem equally comfortable with the romantic and comedic sides of their characters. And some mention should be made of Will Smith and Jennifer Tilly, who have some excellent scene-stealing moments.
In the end, it's easy to overlook the flaws in "Made In America." Yes, it's formula entertainment and, yes, you know what's going to happen. But it's also the kind of movie that will make you laugh out loud, and you'll leave the theater smiling.
Made In America: *** A Warner Bros. release playing at the Valley View Mall 6 and Salem Valley 8. 110 min. Rated PG-13 for subject matter, adult humor and strong language.
by CNB