Most of the critics I’ve read are reaming Guess Who for what it’s not. This is not your parents' Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, the 1967 movie that seriously focused on a country dealing with a post-Civil Rights era of integration. Think more in terms of Meet the Parents, but without the dim-witted humiliation.

Guess Who is a study in race relations in the same way Hot Shots: Park Deux is a reflection of the political intrigue behind the U.S. armed forces. And that's the way I like it, with Bernie Mac as the black parent who isn't particularly pleased to see his daughter bring home beau Ashton Kutcher, a white boy as cracker as they come, making this flick critic proof.

	Ashton opened fresh wounds by accidentally calling Bernie "Cedric."

Actually, it would have been funnier to see Kutcher meet girlfriend Demi Moore's family in real life, and especially have a camera ready when he meets her ex and father of their children, Bruce Willis, at a Hollywood shindig. In fact, one of Ashton’s lines was so unintentional funny I’m the only one who spit nacho cheese out of his nose when he said, "I'm not so good with dads. I'm good with moms." Yeah, no kidding Ash.

I know, I know, Kutcher’s a big dumb pretty boy who couldn’t act his way out of a Friday the 13th movie. You’re wondering who likes Kutcher, besides 14-year-old girls with Teen Beat subscriptions. That's me. I happen to like Kutcher (and I prefer Cosmo Girl, thankyouverymuch), and if that makes me unwelcome in fifteen states plus the District of Columbia, then so be it.

I even liked The Butterfly Effect. If that displeases you, feel free to take your high-falutin’ indie-watching espresso-drinking self to see a Pakistani film about a boy who can’t figure out how to milk goats.

Like pretty much what you’d expect in real life, Ashton's a spaz and doesn't know when to shut his yap, so he most definitely deserves a lot of the guff he receives. In fact, my only complaint is a stupid subplot about Kutcher quitting his job serves as the only tension, one of those times you (okay, I) want to yell at the screen, "JUST TELL HER THE TRUTH RIGHT NOW OR IT WILL ONLY SERVE AS A PLOT DEVICE TO CREATE TENSION NEAR THE END OF THE FILM SO THAT Y’ALL GET BACK TOGETHER EVEN HAPPIER THAN BEFORE."

Or something like that.

As I said above, the movie is a reverse of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?, with Bernie Mac giving the once-over to his daughter’s white boyfriend. Think of the normal tension between a father-in-law and future son-in-law, but with race tossed in the strain is kicked up a notch. Guess Who is comedically awkward throughout, since Bernie’s worried about appearances with neighbors and friends and co-workers, yet he lives in New Jersey. Go figure.

Or, the two are at each other’s throats in a battle to determine who has the better sitcom on the Fox network. Which would be silly, since “Arrested Development” is better than both “That 70s Show” and “The Bernie Mac Show.”

Anyway, Ashton's all, "Sweet! Dude! Sweet!" and Bernie’s all, “Dude, Where’s Your Black Boyfriend?” and after drinking together, dancing together and sleeping in the same bed you can guess how it all ends. Come on, two men sharing a bed and climbing all over each other is always funny!

I should add that Ashton’s girlfriend and Bernie’s daughter is played by Zoe Saldana (The Terminal), who is hot no matter what shade you are. Even Bernie’s wife, played by Judith Scott (“Jake 2.0”) is smokin’ as the polite intermediary between the warring sides.

For what this movie is, I liked it. I laughed frequently, and that’s the only criteria. I don’t want humanity’s ills to be solved, and I don’t need the movie to be particularly edgy. Also, Guess Who handles the race jokes a zillion times better than what was surprisingly and maddeningly a moneymaker in Bringing Down the House. There are easy jokes, and then there is Queen Latifah resorting to slave humor. Even Ashton knew not to go there.

The cast is always in good spirits, provides plenty of sass when there's trouble and tension, and we all learned a valuable lesson: Stop telling black jokes while you’re ahead.

p.s. - Stick around for the credits, done in DVD style with Mystery Science Theater style voiceovers by the characters.