I liked this film more when I first saw it, rating it a 7 out of 10, but seeing it again since its VHS release, I found it quite disappointing and very flawed. For one thing, Whoopi Goldberg's character isn't exactly like a ball until she is confronted with the possibility that her daughter Nia Long's biological father by artificial insemination maybe white and she actually has a connection with him. He's played by Ted Danson, spoofing real life Southern California car salesman Cal Worthington, a reference movie viewers would only get if their lives there and watched late-night TV. Whoopi starts off the film really irritating, riding her bike opposite traffic on busy city streets, nearly causing accidents everywhere she turns. She's also very temperamental a lot of times, and that doesn't make her character someone that the audience can identify with and genuinely like. The scene with the two white women going into her African American antique shop is truly absurd, especially the results of what happens when she locks them in.
A young Will Smith plays Long's best buddy, who has a crush on her even though she only thinks of him as a friend. She publicly humiliated him when she takes him to a sperm bank and asks him to distract the nurse while she checks out the records, finding out that her father is Ted Danson. At this time in real life, dancing and Goldberg were romantically involved, and they do have good screen presents together but not necessarily great chemistry. She's rather rude to him simply because he's white and also because Long went to see him, resulting in some oddball racial points of view even though it is about a mixed-race relationship. That makes it very strange in retrospect. Peggy Rea as dancing secretary and Lou Leonard as the sperm bank nurse are very funny, while Jeffrey Joseph as Goldbergs' gay African born clerk is hysterical, preferring to listen to Judy Garland over native African music. It's a mixed bag that is enjoyable but unfortunately flawed and often head-scratching.
A young Will Smith plays Long's best buddy, who has a crush on her even though she only thinks of him as a friend. She publicly humiliated him when she takes him to a sperm bank and asks him to distract the nurse while she checks out the records, finding out that her father is Ted Danson. At this time in real life, dancing and Goldberg were romantically involved, and they do have good screen presents together but not necessarily great chemistry. She's rather rude to him simply because he's white and also because Long went to see him, resulting in some oddball racial points of view even though it is about a mixed-race relationship. That makes it very strange in retrospect. Peggy Rea as dancing secretary and Lou Leonard as the sperm bank nurse are very funny, while Jeffrey Joseph as Goldbergs' gay African born clerk is hysterical, preferring to listen to Judy Garland over native African music. It's a mixed bag that is enjoyable but unfortunately flawed and often head-scratching.