Made in America

Starring: Ted Danson, Whoopi Goldberg. Will Smith, Nia Long

Danson reprises Sam Malone in this middling comedy about fatherhood and race. Skilled work by the actors is the strong point. Benjamin's direction is weak; his pace and timing (which is everything in a comedy) is off. Certainly there are some funny bits, and some good lines, but the picture doesn't really gel--it never rises above the sum of its parts. Perhaps its most notable conceit: the relentlessly cheerful and racially harmonized world in which these people live. Despite much chatter (and jokes), race is never seen as a divisive or threatening issue. Certainly that is a goal for society, but the picture would have had more impact if it got its hands just a little dirty on the subject. And oh yeah, why did Jennifer Tilly allow this horrible role to be perpetrated upon her? (6/5/93)