I'm a fan of Bernie Mac, but something about the adverts to this film gave me pause.

The first third of the film erased my fears and filled my belly with laughter. Sharp, funny, extremely well-edited and strongly-directed. But, as the contrivances accumulate one after the other, the plot begins to come apart at the seams. Until it becomes painfully obvious, that the film doesn't even respect its own plot -- just uses it as a skeleton for the comedy.

That said, the comedy is very good. The actual dialogue, the back chatter, even seemingly insignificant interactions are smart and funny. The only problem is the circumstances out of which they grow. Those circumstances are ridiculous, unbelievable. I didn't buy it. I didn't buy these two guys would race go-carts, I didn't believe Ashton would tell a string of black jokes at the Bernie Mac family dinner.

Nor does the eventual character developments hold any weight, so the film offers little heart in its climax and resolution. If the script had been written with any depth, all of that had been sacrificed for the joke. But again, the joke really is funny. I laughed a lot, and sometimes hard. But I also winced at what I was expected to believe.

Because of its strong positives and tedious negatives, I'm going to average this film out to a B rating.

From the production notes: Mac, a long time fan of classic films, seized on the idea of a comedic variation on one of his favorite movies: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."