Made in America (1993)

A young black woman discovers that her father was a sperm donor, and if that weren't bad enough, he's white.

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers:

Marcia Brandwynne (story), Nadine Schiff (story)

Stars:

Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Danson, Will Smith

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Sarah Mathews
Ted Danson	...	Hal Jackson
Will Smith	...	Tea Cake Walters
Nia Long	...	Zora Mathews
Paul Rodriguez	...	Jose
Jennifer Tilly	...	Stacy
Peggy Rea	...	Alberta
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Bob Takashima
David Bowe	...	Teddy
Jeff Joseph	...	James
Rawley Valverde	...	Diego
Fred Mancuso	...	Bruce
Charlene Fernetz	...	Paula
Shawn Levy	...	Dwayne
Lu Leonard	...	Sperm Bank Nurse

Storyline

In the Bay Area, widowed Sarah Mathews and her high school senior daughter Zora Mathews are intellectuals who embrace their African roots, Sarah who owns and operates a store all things African called African Queen. Despite often fighting, they truly do love each other. That love is why Sarah would rather Zora attend Berkeley for her freshman year than science prodigy Zora's first choice of M.I.T. on the other side of the country. Caught in a lie, Sarah is forced to admit to Zora that her husband Charlie, who died before Zora was born and who was the love of her life, is not Zora's biological father as Zora has always believed, but that she was conceived via artificial insemination using anonymous sperm from a sperm bank. Determined to have a man in her life she can truly call a "Dad" all her own, Zora, with the help of her longtime best friend Tea Cake Walton, is able to break into the sperm bank's computerized records to find the donor's information, including his name: Hal Jackson....

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Plot Keywords:

reckless driving | monkey | hospital | beer | pizza | 

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Taglines:

At the sperm-bank she asked for a tall, intelligent, black man. One out of three ain't bad.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual situations and language

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

28 May 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Genesis

Filming Locations:

Albany, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$44,942,695

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$60,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mel Stewart's final film.

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Goofs

Placement of fruit in bowl during the love scene. The fruit is kicked out by Sarah's foot, then is neatly back in place moments later.

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Quotes

Hal Jackson: [trying on a rhinestone cowboy costume] I look like my mother.

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Connections

Referenced in DVD-R Hell: How Can I Tell If I'm Really in Love? (2011)

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Soundtracks

Go Away
Written by Gloria Estefan and Lawrence Dermer
Performed by Gloria Estefan
Produced by Emilio Estefan Jr., Jorge Casas and Clay Ostwald
Courtesy of Epic Records

User Reviews

A perfect Sunday afternoon movie

I really like this film. It's been on British T.V. almost as many times as Mary Poppins and I'm always glad to see it. There is a chaotic comic chemistry between Goldberg and Danson, but they don't egotistically dominate the film, allowing the charming and funny performances by Nora Long, Jennifer Tilly, Will Smith, Peggy Rea and others to shine. I particularly like Tilly's character, a new age airhead, and her new boyfriend, played by Fred Mancuso, who between them, make stupidity lovable. Everyone gets a fair chance, and they all make the best of it.

Formulaic as it is, Made in America is about racial identity, which is a difficult subject to address in such a frivolous form as romantic comedy, but it manages to more or less avoid cringes and concentrates on the laughs, only giving as much time to story as is necessary to keep everything moving on. Against the odds and thanks to the superb cast this is a good natured film. It harks back to the optimism of the early nineties, and seems strangely innocent, eleven years on.