Made in America (1993) Warner Bros./Comedy RT: 111 minutes Rated PG-13 (thematic material, sexual situations, language) Director: Richard Benjamin Screenplay: Marcia Brandwynne, Nadine Schiff and Holly Goldberg Sloan Music: Mark Isham Cinematography: Ralf Bode Release date: May 28, 1993 (US) Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Danson, Nia Long, Will Smith, Paul Rodriguez, Jennifer Tilly, Peggy Rea, Clyde Kusatsu, David Bowe, Jeff Joseph, Rawley Valverde, Fred Mancuso, Charlene Fernetz, Shawn Levy, Lu Leonard, Phyllis Avery, Frances Bergen. Box Office: $44.9M (US)/$104.9M (World)
Rating: ***
What’s worse than finding out you’re the product of artificial insemination? How about finding out your biological dad is the most obnoxious guy in town? What, not bad enough? Okay, how about this? What if you’re a black teen and the obnoxious guy is white? How do you break the news to your mother, a proud black woman who specifically requested the sperm donor be a black man? Now what if said black woman is Whoopi Goldberg? It’s safe to say all hell’s going to break loose.
It’s also the premise of Made in America, a comedy with more heart than one would expect from a movie dealing with sperm banks. It came out not long after Frozen Assets, another sperm bank comedy starring a Cheers cast member- i.e. Shelley Long. I still feel icky from watching it and that was more than 20 years ago. Ted Danson (Three Men and a Baby) co-stars alongside then-girlfriend Goldberg as Hal Jackson, the cowpoke owner of a car dealership who regularly makes an ass of himself on late night TV commercials that usually involve animals like chimps, bears and elephants. The last thing he wants is a family much less one he didn’t even know he had. That’s the dilemma he faces when Zora (Long, Friday) confronts him at his workplace while he’s making another idiotic commercial.
Wait a minute, let’s hit the brakes. I’m getting ahead of myself here. I should start from the beginning, shouldn’t I? Zora is the only child of Sarah Matthews (Goldberg, Ghost), the carefree owner of an African-American bookstore who throws caution out the window every day when she rides her bike to and from work. She weaves around and cuts in front of cars, trucks and buses like she’s impervious to injury or death.
One day at school, Zora takes a blood test that reveals the man she thought was her father couldn’t possibly be. Blood types never lie, right? After getting little information from her mother, she goes to the sperm bank and breaks into the computer to get a name. How does she pull off this daring heist? Why, by tricking her best friend Tea Cake (Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) into posing as a donor to distract the head nurse. It works, of course.
Okay, we’re all up to speed now. Hal freaks out when Zora hits him with the big news sending the teen home in tears. When she breaks the news at home, Mom doesn’t just hit the roof, she goes right through it. She’s wild pissed the facility tricked her. She’s also mad as hell at Hal for hurting her daughter. She lets him know this in no uncertain terms. She also informs him that they don’t need or want him in their life regardless of his…. shall we say, contribution. Of course, you know Hal and Sarah will both experience a change of heart as well as fall for each other despite their differences.
Whoopi did Made in America between the two Sister Act movies. It came out in early summer ’93 the same weekend (Memorial Day) as Cliffhanger and Super Mario Bros. The studio obviously expected it to be a huge hit which it was not making nearly $100 million less than Sister Act. It’s not as fall-down funny as the nun comedy, but it still has a fair share of laughs.
Whoopi is a naturally funny lady who also carries herself with dignity, a commodity in short supply in most comedies- e.g. Frozen Assets. She has this directness that allows her to respond to each and every situation at hand whether it’s dealing with a distraught daughter or being chased through the streets by a rogue elephant. It also allows her to convey her fear of her changing feelings towards Hal as he steps up in his new role as father.
For his part, Danson gives a solid performance as a guy who starts off as an unlikable cad, the kind of fellow who lives with a WAY-too-young girlfriend (Tilly, Moving Violations), before changing into a nice guy who truly wants to be there for his daughter. He has a few goofy moments, mostly involving his animal co-stars, as well as some tender moments with his new family.
Smith provides ample support as the movie’s comic wild card. He has a way with dialogue like when Hal comes to Sarah’s home, “There’s a white man at the door.” He’s just funny; I can’t put it more succinctly than that. Long is also quite good as Zora, an intelligent high school senior up for a huge science scholarship.
Predictably, there’s a health crisis in the final act that will reveal a surprise that most will see coming. Casting aside its obviousness as a dramatic gimmick, it works in spite of that. Call me a sucker, but damned if Made in America didn’t put a smile on my face. Sure, some of it feels a bit labored. The whole subplot about Tilly’s airhead character feels shoehorned in. Another subplot, Zora becoming involved with a lothario employee of Hal’s, is dropped altogether. The relationship between Zora and Tea Cake, friends since childhood, is sweet.
In fact, sweet is just the right word to describe Made in America. Directed by Richard Benjamin (My Favorite Year), it strikes almost the right balance of funny and heartwarming. Despite its subject matter, it doesn’t fall back on crude humor- save for the Tea Cake’s scene at the sperm bank- for laughs. I’ll always take heart over jizz jokes.
