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)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,821,326, 31 May 1993

Gross USA:

$44,942,695

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$104,942,695

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

The African Craft Shop is in the same street as a cinema advertising "A Paula Prentiss Retrospective". Prentiss is the wife of director Richard Benjamin.

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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: Do you mind if I smoke in here?
Sarah Mathews: Yes, i do mind
Zora: ma, this is his office
Sarah Mathews: I don't care, this is my lungs, he can get himself killed.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Made in America/Menace II Society/Cliffhanger/Hot Shots! Part Deux/The Long Day Closes (1993)

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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

OK Fluff

As another example of an average premise and equal execution "Made In America" doesn't disappoint. Whoopie Goldberg and Ted Danson star as one-time customers of a sperm donor bank that has mistakenly given them a very curious daughter. Entering her mid-teens, their daughter Zora (played affably by Nia Long) discovers she is the product of their unintentional love. While Sarah (Goldberg) wanted a strong, tall black man, she would have settled at least for the last part. Instead, she is introduced to Danson by her intuitive daughter after she uses her friend (played by Will Smith) to steal sperm donor records.

The rest of the film is pretty much by-the-book. Father and Mother fight, get along, date, daughter gets weirded-out, parents save daughter from bad decision and hug....fade to credits and cliché song.

In between:

The movie IS worth watching. I give it crap because it's fairly by-the-book but it's not awful. When I first saw this film I was a fan of Danson from "Cheers" and Goldberg from her one-woman show and guest spots on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I remember being pleasantly surprised by both. Danson is an accomplished actor, best in "Pontiac Moon", and stretches his comedic skills here. Goldberg, on the other hand is best here in dramatic moments. She is warm and vibrant with splashes of real brilliance but it's not enough. It's not that she can't do the comedy at all, she is an incredible comedian, the script just doesn't give her enough to do besides be shrill and clumsy with a smattering of nice. Her few scenes with Danson are worth the time spent watching and make up for their tabloid headlines at the time. As for Smith's performance, this early role wasn't much different than most. Every minute on screen he is a joy, still in his "Fresh Prince" mode here he certainly doesn't disappoint. Nia Long is the real find here. If one person from this film should have been given a better shake than anyone it is her. She is vibrant, funny and worthy of the people she shares the screen with. That says a lot.