Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
‘90s comedy about unexpected sperm-donor dad; language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Made in America (1993)
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In MADE IN AMERICA, Zora (Nia Long) is an honors high school senior who has always believed her dad died before she was born. That's the story her mom Sarah (Whoopi Goldberg) told her. But she learns in science class that her blood type rules out her widowed mom's husband as a father. Curious, she heads for the sperm bank mom used and gets a name -- Hal Jackson (Ted Danson), the owner of a high-profile local truck dealership who is constantly making a fool of himself in over-the-top TV ads featuring bears, chimps, and elephants. In addition to being a buffoon, he's also White, decidedly not what mom Sarah ordered 18 years ago from the sperm menu. Zora, Sarah, and Hal all must deal with the jarring news, reevaluating who and what they are to each other.
Is It Any Good?
At the start, Made in America is kind of stupid but, despite a rough start, grows to be kind of touching. A really good movie could have been made on this subject, but it only would've been possible with a far better, more thoughtful script that relied less on runaway elephants and more on the kind of dialogue that the central revelation would prompt. Despite heavy-handed, unsubtle plotting and speeches, the emotionality that derives from finding family comes through. The appeal of Goldberg, Danson, and Long can't be understated, even when they are forced to say ridiculous things under outrageously unrealistic circumstances.
The film's first half drags under the weight of the clunky and implausible set-up. Zora's mom might be angry that the sperm bank ignored her request and gave her a White man's sperm instead of a Black man's, but how is that the White man's fault? So when she angrily heads over to his car lot to yell, you have to wonder why didn't she go storming over to the sperm bank to yell instead? But in terms of achieving cheap laughs, this movie doesn't care about making sense. Its weakness is that it succumbs to the kind of dumb humor that runaway elephants supply.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how jarring it would be to learn as a teen who your dad really is. In what ways might it be difficult to process?
How does the movie handle racial differences? The newly discovered White dad is often referred to as an "a--hole." Do you think he is? Why or why not?
What are some of Hal's responses to the news that he's a father that make him seem unfeeling and insensitive? What might he have said or done that would have seemed kinder and more compassionate?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : May 28, 1993
- Cast : Whoopi Goldberg , Ted Danson , Nia Long , Will Smith
- Director : Richard Benjamin
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 150 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : sexual situations and language
- Last updated : April 17, 2024
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