Percy Jones (Bernie Mac) is about to renew his vows with his wife of 25 years, Marilyn (Judith Scott). He’s a numbers oriented, by-the-book manager of the loan department at a local bank. Although he has a sparkling personality, his creativity lacks that same effervescence. When he tries to write his vows for the ceremony, he can only come up with lyrics from old tunes, long buried in his memory. Furthermore he is too dim to know it.

His daughter Theresa (Zoe Saldana of "The Terminal") is bringing her fiancé Simon (Ashton Kutcher) home to meet her parents. Normally, that’s enough stress on its own (a.k.a. "Meet the Parents"), but here, they are also planning to announce their engagement. Dad believes in checking up on the guys that Theresa dates and Simon’s numbers look pretty good¾ great job at a top notch NYC investment firm, spotless credit record, a promising future. Percy is in for a rude awakening when the lovebirds arrive at the house and he realizes that Simon is white¾ Gap ad white. Much of a relationship between a man and a woman is how one views the other half. Unfortunately, how others view them can have an impact also. Furthermore, what Percy and Theresa don’t know is that on the eve of the renewal ceremony, Simon has quit his job.

Of course, all ends well, and along the way, we are provided with a somewhat humorous state of race relations in America today. The film makes use of music in which the lyrics fit the script to the point that it feels a little too slick and contrived. There are some awkward moments about where Simon is going to sleep, especially when it’s in Percy’s house. The solution is over the top.

Zoe Saldana is now grown up from her roles in "Crossroads" and "Drumline," and it’s clear that she’ll one-day get more notice when the right supporting or leading role comes along. She can be bubbly cute yet there is a streak of intensity that reminds one of Kimberly Elise (Diary of a Mad Black Woman).

At a time when politicians have mastered how to speak in code about hot button subjects, we have become astute enough to pick up on the implications that lie beneath the superficial slapstick humor. When Simon speaks up at the dinner table to prove how liberal and non-racist he is, he proudly recounts that he called one of his relatives to task by telling him that his black jokes were inappropriate. Percy insists that Simon tell the joke, which gets a little nervous laughter. Then he encourages him to tell another and another. This leads to a series of jokes that are "funny" until Simon tells one that is funny to him but not to the African Americans around the table. Point made.

George’s Take: I can recall being guilty of practicing similar humor about Polish people when I was a teenager. It’s a case of making yourself feel better by putting down someone else. Although the jokes can be funny, they have a different connotation when folks poke fun at themselves.

Pam’s Take: These jokes are born of ignorance and there is no redeeming value in any setting.

What elevates this comedy of the week a notch above many Hollywood cliché ridden movies is the reality of some of the dialogue. There is a scene when Theresa’s sister Keisha (Kellee Stewart) is thrilled that she can do just about anything wrong and get away with it because it won’t be as serious an offense to dad as bringing home a white man. We have a friend whose sister said the same thing, the key difference being that her fiance’ is a black man.

On the subject of the renewal of wedding vows, we’ve thought about that (we celebrated our 40^th anniversary last year). We’ve not done it, in part because we don’t want the event to be pretentious, and if we did, just what do you say that makes sense?