Made in America (1993 film)

Made in America is a 1993 American comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson, and featuring Nia Long, Jennifer Tilly and Will Smith. The film was directed by Richard Benjamin. It was shot in various locations in Oakland, California and at Oakland Technical High School.

Made in America
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard Benjamin
Produced byArnon Milchan
Michael Douglas
Rick Bieber
Written byMarcia Brandwynne
Nadine Schiff
Holly Goldberg Sloan
Starring
Music byMark Isham
CinematographyRalf Bode
Edited byJacqueline Cambas
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • May 28, 1993 (1993-05-28)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$22 million
Box office$104 million

A notable song on the soundtrack is "Colors of Love," written by Carole Bayer Sager, James Ingram and Bruce Roberts, and produced by David Foster, which alludes to the story line.

Plot

Zora Matthews, whose mother Sarah conceived her with the aid of an anonymous sperm donor, discovers that her father is a white man named Hal Jackson. This comes as a major shock to Sarah, who had explicitly requested a black donor. On top of that, Jackson is a loud, self-promoting car salesman, which clashes with Sarah's intellectualism. The film revolves around Zora and her mother's rocky relationship with Jackson. Jackson eventually comes to love his daughter and her mother.

Cast

Production

The story did not originally specify black actors for any of the roles and was rewritten upon Goldberg's casting.[1]

Homage

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

  1. Gloria Estefan – "Go Away" (U.S. #103; UK #13)
  2. Keith Sweat and "Silk – Does He Do It Good"
  3. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien – "Made in America"
  4. Lisa Fischer – "Colors of Love" (U.S. AC #18, R&B #24)
  5. Sérgio Mendes – "What Is This?"
  6. Mark Isham – "Made In Love"
  7. Laura Satterfield and Ephraim Lewis – "I Know I Don't Walk on Water"
  8. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince – "Dance or Die"
  9. Deep Purple – "Smoke on the Water"
  10. Ben E. King – "If You Need a Miracle"
  11. Y.T. Style – "Stand"

Reception

The film opened in theaters on May 28, 1993, and grossed over $12 million on its opening weekend.[2] 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-winning rapper Will Smith'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,[3] holding a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews. However, Roger Ebert praised Goldberg's acting in the film and said "This isn't a great movie, but it sure is a nice one."[4]

References
  1. Rita Kempley (May 28, 1993). "'Made in America'". Washington Post. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  2. Fox, David J. (June 1, 1993). "`Cliffhanger' grabs the largest opening for a non-sequel on any Memorial Day weekend. `Made in America' opens in second place". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
  3. "Review/Film; A Man, a Woman And a Sperm Bank Yield a 90's Romance". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  4. "Made In America". Chicago Sun-Times.
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