A good 38 years after white Katharine Houghton brought African-American Sidney Poitier home to meet her parents in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Ashton Kutcher and Zoe Saldana flip the situation in the new comedy “Guess Who.”

The film focuses on Simon Green’s (Kutcher) awkward new relationship with his girlfriend Theresa’s (Saldana) parents, Percy and Sydney Jones, played by Bernie Mac and Sherri Shephard.

The two visit Theresa’s parents’ home in New Jersey, just in time to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, with plans to announce their engagement.

But her overprotective and overzealous father has other plans. While the mother has no particular feelings on Simon’s race, Percy makes perfectly clear that he has a problem with his beloved daughter dating a white man, even telling a colleague Theresa’s new boyfriend is a basketball playing, medicine practicing, Cosby friendly, Howard University graduate named Jamal.

This leads to some interesting humor attempts, mostly proven awkward, like when Percy’s friend talks to Simon’s unknowingly white character on the phone, asking him to schedule a meeting between him and Bill Cosby.

The film has good intentions – dealing with racial boundaries and barriers, physical and slapstick comedy, good actors, a believable plotline, the concept of letting go of your children and supporting their own life and relationship issues, to name a few.

But the problem with the film is blending them together.

At times the issues are clearly about racial issues, which draw a line between funny and offensive.

Other times, it is clear that Percy doesn’t just want to lose his daughter to an unemployed white man; he doesn’t want to lose her at all.

Kutcher and Saldana are believable as a couple in love and don’t have to try hard to prove it to her father.

But after a bad lie about racing NASCARs for Jeff Gordon and when Percy finds out that Simon is recently unemployed and hasn’t told Theresa, Percy decides that Simon is not to be trusted and will never be a part of their family.

Mac is successful as a suspicious and intimidating father. One of the best scenes of the film, which reveals uncomfortable but real situations, that border on being offensive, is when Simon explains how you have to stand up against racism no matter how uncomfortable the situation.

He goes on to say how he doesn’t approve of the racist jokes that “some people” spread at work.

Already uncomfortable, Percy pushes Simon to cite an example. He refuses, but changes his mind when Percy calls him a chicken.

“Why don’t black people like country music? Because whenever they talk about a hoe down, they think their sister was shot.”

Everyone at the dinner table laughs at Simon’s jokes, until he goes too far in telling a joke about black people having trouble finding jobs.

Saldana is outstanding as a passionate, yet frustrated woman in love. It is not hard to see why the two men in her life refuse to give her up.

Both women in the movie give great performances as strong and independent women strong enough to deal with their loves’ shenanigans and shortcomings.

The film takes a different twist when both women (Theresa and Sydney) get angry at the men and flee, leaving the men helpless and lost with only each other. You can only guess what happens. Just as in the common film about meeting the parents, Percy and Simon are destined to become family.

At this point, the film becomes more heartwarming with tender moments between members of the family.

The story becomes less about race and more about acceptance of character, acceptance of growing up, acceptance for love and acceptance of oneself.