GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) ***1/2 "What happens to men when they get old?" Sidney Poitier is worthy in a cinematic variation of Jackie Robinson. He's suave, debonair, handsome, articulate; but the most powerful scenes are between Katharine Hepburn and Cecil Kellaway, and Spencer Tracy and Beah Richards. The acting isn't entirely flawless (including Tracy, though Hepburn is perfect and Poitier is close-even though the writers write his character outside of reality with that early promise to Katharine and Spencer-as if), a lot of it sags beneath bombastic dialogue that never fit into any reality, and the entire things suffers from a horrible recurring theme song and seemingly endless twitty variations. Doesn't matter. The humanity shines through. It shines in Katharine's eyes every time she does anything, it rolls in waves off of Sidney's suit jacket every time he moves, or doesn't, it's right there when Katharine Houghton is confused about her father. It's all explicity about interracial romance, and it is, but it's also very much about building consensus. Kellaway never allows anything to seem impossible, maybe because of how he laughs at all the right things, and doesn't even feel that he need do much about it all. A smile here and there, a properly accepted drink, and everything falls together. Tracy's concluding monologue is excellent, and perfectly delivered, but I wonder why he nullifies the best of it by putting his own feelings in the past tense.
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