''Made in America'' is a 1993 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

and

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He ...

, and featuring

Nia Long Nia Talita Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the NBC sit ...

Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sat ...

and

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

. The film was directed by

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), fr ...

. It was shot in various locations in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and at

Oakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six compre ...

. "Colors of Love," written by

Carole Bayer Sager Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1947) is an American lyricist, singer, and songwriter. Early life and career Bayer Sager was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She grad ...

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Original ...

and Bruce Roberts, and produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

is a notable song on the soundtrack which alludes to the story line.

Plot

Zora Matthews takes a blood test and discovers she has a blood group which is not a possible combination of the groups of her deceased father and her mother Sarah (

). She confronts her mother and is told she used a sperm bank after her husband's death, but asked for a smart black guy. Zora's curiosity gets the better of her and she gets her best friend Tea Cake (

) to go to the sperm bank and pretend to be a donor while she sneaks in to look at the records. Zora gets into the computer and the records show her mother was matched with a Halbert Jackson and gives his social security number. In his luxury mansion, Hal finishes a night of lovemaking with his young girlfriend Stacy before setting off to work. As he reverses out of the garage, Zora gets in the way. She gets in his pickup truck and he goes to his work: Jackson's Motors. She is shocked that he is white. Hal is a flamboyant salesman of his own premises and is shooting an advert with a real bear. Zora interrupts and tells him he is her father. He does not behave well and shows no sympathy or empathy. Her mom goes to confront Hal about how nasty he was. Zora and Tea Cake follow, but Tea Cake is diverted by the car saleswoman. Sarah and Hal are very different in every way. Hal plies her with drink and she cycles off in a drunken state. Hal drives her to her shop "African Queen" with the cycle in the back of the truck. The shop specializes in black authors. Upstairs is a shrine-like room with many pictures of Sarah growing up, plus a dead black man, Charles, which Sarah had been told was her father (photos of O. J. Simpson). Back in his mansion Hal gets emotional in regard to a father-daughter scene in a film on TV:

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

in '' The Little Princess''. With his penchant for hiring wild animals Hal next hires an

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild po ...

but while riding it, the elephant charges off through the streets, ending in a pond. It has been following the sound of the bell on Sarah's bike. Hal takes out his anger on her bike and rips the bell off. News coverage of Hal and the elephant accidentally gives free publicity to his dealership and he has a sales bonanza on the following day. In apology, Hal later goes to her house with a present: a new bell plus a cycling helmet. He also has a present for Zora: an atlas to encourage her world travel. His assistant Diego arrives to take Zora on a date. This inspires Hal to ask Sarah out for dinner and they go for

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

. Hal isn't used to sushi and eats a whole ball of

wasabi Wasabi (Japanese: , , or , ; ''Eutrema japonicum'' or ''Wasabia japonica'') or Japanese horseradish is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and mustard in other genera. The plant is native to Japan and the Russian ...

. Hal starts flirting heavily and they kiss goodnight. It gets more passionate but just as they get to the bedroom Zora and Diego get home. Zora is upset since she wanted to find her father but doesn't want her mom involved. Both Hal and Sarah start thinking about each other. When Sarah goes to the dealership, they argue and Sarah cycles off in an emotional state. She gets hit by a car when she runs a red light. She is not wearing her new helmet and is badly injured. Hal and Zora go to the hospital and give blood. They sit by her bedside as she recovers. Stacy breaks up with Hal because he was out all night. When he goes back to the hospital a medic inadvertently reveals that a blood test shows that he cannot be Zora's father. Zora runs off. He apologises to Sarah. Zora and Tea Cake graduate from school. Zora wins a Westinghouse scholarship to

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

. At her speech Zora gives her mother all the credit. Hal arrives. He wants to see his daughter graduate. He helps Sarah up the steps and Zora thanks her Mom and Dad.

Cast

as Sarah Mathews *

as Hal Jackson *

as Zora Mathews *

as Tea Cake Walters *

as Stacy * Paul Rodriguez as Jose *

Peggy Rea Peggy Jane Rea (March 31, 1921 – February 5, 2011) was an American actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters.

as Alberta, Hal's elderly secretary *

Clyde Kusatsu Clyde Kusatsu (born September 13, 1948) is an American actor and trade union leader of Japanese descent. Since 2013, he has served as the National Vice President of SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local. Life and career Clyde Kusatsu was born in Hawaii a ...

as Bob Takashima * David Bowe as Teddy * Jeff Joseph as James *

Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the ''Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...

as Dwayne *

Rawley Valverde Rawley may refer to: Surname: * Eva Rawley, fictional character in the American situation comedy TV series ''227'' aired on NBC, 1985–1990 * Judy Crawford Rawley (born 1951), retired Canadian alpine skier who competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics ...

as Diego * Charlene Fernetz as Paula the car saleswoman

Production

The story did not originally specify black actors for any of the roles and was rewritten upon Goldberg's casting.

Homage

The character of Hal Jackson is based in part on the real life car dealership owner

Cal Worthington Calvin Coolidge Worthington (November 27, 1920 – September 8, 2013) was an American car dealer, best known on the West Coast of the United States, and to a more limited extent elsewhere, from minor appearances and parodies in a number of movi ...

. Hal's use of large circus animals in his car commercials are an homage to Cal's famous "My Dog Spot" ads, which were also filmed with live circus animals.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was released on May 28, 1993. #

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

– " Go Away" (U.S. #103; UK #13) #

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and an early figure in the new jack swing musical movement. He is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her", " Make It Last Forever", "I'll Give A ...

and

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

– "Does He Do It Good" #

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper. Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings Born in O ...

– "Made in America" #

Lisa Fischer Lisa Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album ''So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back-up singer ...

– "Colors of Love" (U.S. AC #18, R&B #24) #

Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; born February 11, 1941) is a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his group Brasil '66. He has over 55 releases and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. He was nominated for ...

– "What Is This?" #

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and t ...

– "Made In Love" # Laura Satterfield and Ephraim Lewis – "I Know I Don't Walk on Water" #

DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of rapper Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and disc jockey Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active full time from 1986 to 1994 and occasion ...

– "Dance or Die" #

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

– "

Smoke on the Water "Smoke on the Water" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, first released from the band's sixth studio album ''Machine Head'' (1972), which chronicles the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino. In a 2004 publication by ''Rolling Stone'' magaz ...

" #

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later ...

– "If You Need a Miracle" # Y.T. Style – "Stand"

Reception

The film opened in theaters on May 28, 1993, and grossed over $12 million on its opening weekend. It was released to over 2,000 theaters and grossed nearly $50 million in the U.S. alone. Worldwide, it earned over $100 million. This was television star and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning rapper

's second supporting role in a movie and started his successful career as a major film actor. ''Made in America'' earned mostly negative reviews from critics, holding a 33% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 30 reviews. However,

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

praised Goldberg's acting in the film and said "This isn't a great movie, but it sure is a nice one."

References

External links

* * * {{Michael Douglas 1993 films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1993 comedy films African-American comedy films African-American films Films about automobiles Films about car dealerships Films about interracial romance Films about race and ethnicity Films about sperm donation Films directed by Richard Benjamin Films produced by Arnon Milchan Films produced by Michael Douglas Films scored by Mark Isham Films set in San Francisco Regency Enterprises films StudioCanal films