Themes: Culture Clash, Class Differences, Mothers and Daughters
Main Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Danson, Will Smith, Nia Long, Paul Rodriguez
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Richard Benjamin directed this farce that plays like "Guess Who's Coming for Insemination?" Whoopi Goldberg stars as Sarah Matthews, who runs an African-American oriented bookstore in Oakland. She is raising her daughter, a beautiful high school student named Zora (Nia Long), on her own after her husband's death many years earlier. As a result of a science class blood test, Zora discovers that the man she thought was her father actually wasn't. Instead Zora finds she was the result of artificial insemination. After researching the sperm bank's records, Zora discovers, much to the surprise of Sarah and herself, that the anonymous sperm donor is in fact, Hal Jackson (Ted Danson), a loud, crude obnoxious (and white) used-car dealer who advertises on late-night television. Zora visits Hal while he is filming a commercial and Hal brushes her off. Enraged, Sarah tells Hal off, but after meeting Zora he now feels a paternal itch. Not only that, but he is beginning to feel an attraction to Sarah. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Jennifer Tilly - Stacy; Peggy Rea - Alberta; Phyllis Avery - White Woman 1; Frances Bergen - White Woman 2; David Bowe - Teddy; Clyde Kusatsu - Bob Takashima; Michael Halton - Stew; Lu Leonard - Clinic Nurse; Joe Lerer - Hospital Doctor; William John Murphy - P.A. #1; Mel Stewart - Principal Rockwell; Rawley Valverde - Diego; Jeffrey Joseph - James; Reuben Cannon; O'Neal Compton - Rocky; Charlene Fernetz - Paula; Shaun Levy - Dwayne
Credit
Suzanne Rothbaum - Associate Producer, Lester Wilson - Choreography, Patrick Palmer - Co-producer, Elizabeth McBride - Costume Designer, Newt Arnold - First Assistant Director, L. Dean Jones, Jr. - First Assistant Director, Richard Benjamin - Director, Jacqueline Cambas - Editor, Nadine Schiff - Executive Producer, Marcia Brandwynne - Executive Producer, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), Richard Lightstone - Musical Direction/Supervision, Michael Germain - Makeup, Dan Striepeke - Makeup, Evelyn Sakash - Production Designer, Ralf Bode - Cinematographer, Rick Bieber - Producer, Michael Douglas - Producer, Arnon Milchan - Producer, Steven E. Reuther - Producer, Hilton Rosemarin - Set Designer, Thomas F. Sindicich - Special Effects, Holly Goldberg Sloan - Screenwriter, Nadine Schiff - Screenwriter, Marcia Brandwynne - Screenwriter, Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Pilot
Zora Matthews (Long), whose mother, Sarah (Goldberg) conceived her with the aid of an anonymous sperm donor, discovers her father is a white man named Hal Jackson (Danson). This comes as a major shock to Sarah, who had explicitly requested a black donor. On top of that, Hal is very much the sleazy car saleman type and does not place a high value on intellect, which also clashes with Sarah's request for a man of intelligence to be the donor. The film revolves around Zora and her mother's rocky relationship with Jackson following the discovery of his ethnicity.
Release
When the film opened in theaters on May 28, 1993, it grossed more than $12 million on its opening weekend. The film was released to more than 2,000 theaters and grossed nearly $50 million in the U.S. alone. Worldwide, the film earned more than $100 million. The film also started Grammy Award-winning rapper Will Smith's successful career as a film actor.
Tagline
At the sperm bank, she asked for a tall, intelligent, black man. One out of three ain't bad.
