Carbon Copy

Plot synopsis:
Roger Porter (Washington) is the long-lost black son of Walter Whitney (Segal), a respectable businessman who lives in the all-white community of San Marino, California. Walter, who is Jewish, has been hiding that fact for purposes of professional advancement in the business which his anti-Semitic father-in-law (Warden) heads.
Once Roger turns up at Walter's office, it turns out that he is the result of Walter's relationship with a black woman, who is now dead. Walter's father-in-law had warned him that the relationship would be harmful to his career, so he broke it off.
Walter attempts to help Roger by telling his wife Vivian (Saint James) that he wants to adopt him. She accepts, but soon regrets the decision and ends up kicking Walter out. Her father also fires him, taking his car and benefits in the process. Penniless, he and Roger check into a motel, and later move into an apartment. Walter ends up as a menial manual laborer, shovelling horse manure.
The final ten minutes makes the transition from comedy to drama, where Walter has to choose between either acceptance that Roger is his son, or alienation of Roger to salvage his own position in society.

Tags: blaxploitation

Review:
A white man told his white wife that the black teenage boy with them was his son.
Over the years, I quoted that line many times, mostly in arguments with my mother and maternal grandmother about inter-racial marriage.
Walter Whitney (played by George Segal) is a wealthy businessman who lives a high society lifestyle with his snobbish wife Vivian (Susan St. James) and his equally snobbish step-daughter Mary Ann (Vicky Dawson).
That changes one day when a 17-year old black boy named Roger Porter (Denzel Washington in his first movie) arrives at Walter's office and, after an extensive display of crude behavior, cheerfully says "Hi, Daddy!"It turns out that Roger was the product of Walter's relationship with a black woman, now dead, who he loved.
But he left her when his longtime employer and now father-in-law Nelson Longhurst (Jack Warden) advised him that it would be harmful to his career to be with a black woman.
It's also revealed that Walter changed his last name from Weisenthal to hide his Jewish ethnicity.Walter is shocked to learn that he has a son and nervous about the way it might disrupt his life.
But he attempts to help Roger by telling Vivian that he wants to adopt a poor child for the Summer to show him a better way of life.
Vivian reluctantly agrees, then changes her mind shortly after meeting Roger, which leads to the scene that I mentioned to start this review.Vivian proceeds to kick out Walter and her father fires him, takes his company Rolls Royce and his many job benefits.
But in the town of San Marino, his reputation turns out to be ruined and out of desperation to make some quick cash, he ends up shoveling horse manure.As the movie progresses, it's obvious that Walter regrets leaving Roger's mother.
And now he must decide whether to keep Roger at a distance for the sake of social acceptance or try to make up for the mistakes of his past by attempting to build a close relationship with his son.Throughout the movie, the interaction between Walter and Roger is fabulous.
The movie does a great job striking the very difficult balance between having fun with racial stereotypes but still condemning racism.And during the last 15 minutes, when the movie makes the transition from comedy to drama, it does so surprisingly smoothly.In conclusion, "Carbon Copy" gets my vote as the best culture clash comedy ever.
It's a great movie to watch for lots of big laughs.
Walter Whitney has a mansion in San Marino and a great job that comes with a Rolls Royce and numerous credit cards.
And her daughter Mary Ann won't accept Walter as her father, even though he adopted her when he married her mother.
Mary Ann considers herself to be engaged to her boyfriend, but apparently this isn't important enough to tell Walter.Nelson, Vivian's father and Walter's boss, has a talk with Walter because he is concerned that his daughter isn't happy.
Guess who it is!The opening credits said "Introducing Denzel Washington".
This respected and usually serious actor comes across more like Will Smith in TV's "Fresh Prince of Bel Air"--appealing, smart-alecky, intelligent though apparently not book-smart (and we know Smith progressed from that image to a career similar to Washington's, though in less serious roles).
In this movie, Vivian, Mary Ann, Nelson, and even the family doctor and pastor think blacks are inferior, and that Walter has done something unthinkable.
Dick Martin is funny as Walter's pot-smoking best friend and lawyer, and Paul Winfield does a good job as another lawyer.One of the many highlights: Roger's '59 Chevy, which makes Al Bundy's Dodge Dart look like a BMW.
The only movie car more pathetic that I can remember was one of the cop cars in "Smokey and the Bandit", but that was only after numerous wrecks.And you have to see how Walter and Vivian solved their difficulties in the bedroom!Eventually, lessons about prejudice are learned, but not by all.
In the meantime, I wrote a thesis that dealt, among other things, with integration and denial issues (compare it to Woody Allen's "Zelig", for example!), and I found more quotable poignant and funny lines in this movie than in any other.
On top of it, it has all those minor jokes that you probably won't catch the first time around and that make a comedy great.
This movie is extremely funny, well written and has great actors, who should really be proud of it.
The only thing that surprises me is that with all those big names attached the movie is so frequently overlooked and almost forgotten.
By the way: I won't claim I saw Denzel's potential back then, but when I look back at this movie now, in hindsight, you can detect an Oscar winner in the making.
This was the first time I had seen Denzel Washington and our family really enjoyed the movie.
We are a Black family, so the White dad buying into the stereotypes about Black people struck us as quite amusing and he deserved his comeuppance for his sorry thinking.
The movie was funny and also touching.
True, there was a lack of depth in some of the acting, but not all movies that are made contain a great amount of depth.
For the most part, if you want to watch a movie that won't assault your eyes or ears, yet entertain you with some true and humorous depiction of slices of life, this is a good one to check out.
I've been a Denzel fan ever since I saw "Carbon Copy" and it is a part of my "favorites" collection..
Denzel Washington's first film role.
Even in this small role, he was great.My personal connection to this film aside, it really hit home the problem in this country.
George Segal really did a good job in displaying the angst of the two worlds that divide us.Most of the credit has to go to Oscar-winner Stanley Shapiro, for writing and producing this film.
I liked this movie and found it to be very funny.
I first found the VHS tape in Savons and later the DVD in Circuit City.The movie demonstrated that even though society supposedly changed their view on Blacks, there were still racial undertones.
The film tells the story of a predominately wealthy White man who rose to wealth because he married into it.
He was supposedly very much in love with the mother of his son but didn't want to marry her because she was black and it would be bad for business.
The film showed how he had to adjust to the lack of support from family, friend and viewed things from the other side of the tracks.
It was funny that through out most of the movie he was being a wimp and suffered for it.
Then towards the end learns some things about himself.Denzel Washington's character was funny because of his quick witty responses and view point of the real world even before the father realized things.
Also, towards the end his character had more depth than at first realized.The movie was very informative about the 1980s racial and social environment.
The comedy presented things in a funny manner in which to explain the stereotypes and their effects on the characters.
I can't give it a ten because they could have gotten someone better than Susan St. James but I enjoyed this film when I saw it in theaters many moons ago.
The surface story of an absentee father finally owing up to his son is quite good and rings true.
This movie wasn't very well liked when it came out I believe because it didn't pull punches in that regard.
It took time and work for the father and son to come to an understanding.
I've always kinda wished Denzel and George would work together again.
White corporation man George Segal gets a rude awakening when he finds out that he has an illegitimate son who happens to be black (our first real theatrical look at Hollywood icon Denzel Washington).
Naturally Segal's Beverly Hills life turns topsy-turvy with wife Susan Saint James and father-in-law Jack Warden complicating the situation by forcing Segal into a life of degradation and poverty with usually hilarious results.
After seeing the trailer, I was very excited about this film as it looked like a comedy about a white man suddenly finding out about his teenage black son.
The film did start that way but it changes into something else and to something else from there.
Denzel Washington do well but not enough to save the movie.
One part "Fire Sale" ( White family adopting Black child ), one part "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" ( the culture clash surprise ), one part "Life Stinks" ( the reality of life on the streets ), and you pretty much have "Carbon Copy".
The movie can stand on it's own however, because George Segal and Denzel Washington compliment each other nicely as mismatched Father and Son. There are a number of laugh out loud moments, and some social lessons too.
I think George Segal is very underrated as a comedy actor.
That this movie makes it its central issue isn't the bad thing.
What's bad is that no one cared to think about what was being said."Carbon Copy" is aptly named; it's the same story that was used in a million other movies about fathers finding out they had sons that were a different race/impoverished/radicals/whatever was the hot topic issue of the day.
Segal, Warden, Washington and Winfield should have known this was a doomed project from the start.
But since it was directed by Schultz (not known for his subtlety) I guess no one should really be surprised.No great strides in the bridging of the races were made with "Carbon Copy", I'd guess since no one took it seriously.
It's Good To See That Denzel Washington's Film Career Has Survived This Rather Lackluster Debut.
This little known 1981 Avco Embassy release was the film debut for the ever talented Denzel Washington but I certainly wouldn't blame him if he ever wished to forget about its existence.
They have to start somewhere after all and Washington started here in this comedy about a middle aged executive (George Segal) who is happily married and has a successful career.
Then, suddenly, a long forgotten illegitimate son (Washington) from a previous relationship tracks him down and wants to bond with the father he never knew.
It would take another three years before Washington would make another film but his great supporting role in "A Soldier's Story" was a sure sign of an excellent film career to come.
View this one only as a curiosity piece as to how Washington started out in his film career before he hit it big and long before he got those two well deserved Academy Awards..
Great movie to have fun.
I really to don't why some movies (like this one for example) have such a low rating!
I watched the movie and had fun!
Nice actors, parts you will laugh and a great feeling that only 80s movies have.
I had never heard of this one before, but I figured with Denzel Washington how could I go wrong?
But if you concentrate on the relationship between the Denzel Washington and George Segal characters, you're in for a real treat.
They are truly wonderful together and Denzel, especially considering this is one of his earliest roles, has all the charisma, polish, and depth we have come to expect from him.
He is almost 30 years old in this movie.
I watched the opening credits and saw "and Introducing Denzel Washington".
I love Denzel Washington, but he must have been truly desperate to do this movie.
I kept waiting for something funny to happen, but it just kept getting meaner and stupider, with what's-his-name treating this supposed son like dirt.
Mr Pitt oozed 'star' in "Thelma and Louise" and so did Mr Washington in "Carbon Copy." First saw this film in Westwood in the company of my 5.9, 126 lb, 46 inch leg(s), 'corn-fed' flight attendant (Pan Am, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways) Northern California born and raised 'filthy rich' blonde bombshell of a wife.
George Segal plays Walter Whitney, a man who has changed his name from Wisenthal to Whitney to fit in with his new life in California.
He is married to Vivian (played by Susan Saint James) and works for his father-in-law Nelson (played by Jack Warden).
For starters, Walter learns that his ex-girlfriend Lorraine Porter had a son, Roger (played by Denzel Washington in one of his first roles).
After all, Walter is shocked to learn that she and him have a son, Roger, a 17 year old African American.
He and Roger move into a motel and they get reaction regarding their relationship as father-son.
Still if you are truly a Denzel Washington fan, you will get through it.
There is some negative humor though that it might be considered highly offensive but this film is nearly 30 years old.
Walter and Roger take turns in each other's worlds and you wonder if they can ever fit in or find out who they really are.
After all, Walter changed his name, his religion and ethnicity, and married Vivian instead of his true love, Lorraine in the 1960s..
Funny but not so good.
I think is a good because it came out when  black people were very discriminated against.
The movie makes fun of the white population and of their opinion of colored people.
The relationship that develops between George Segal and Denzel Washington is wonderful!
Susan St James is great as his bigotted wife!
As a young kid I went to the theater on a Sunday afternoon expecting to watch a good movie.
This movie had a brilliant cast and was listed as a comedy.
Denzel Washington was a stand out in the movie.
A white corporate executive is surprised to discover that he has a black teenage son The son was born as a result of a relationship the exec had many years ago, and now his new found son can't wait to be adopted into the, almost-exclusively-white community of, San Marino, California......Oh Denzel, if you have any skeletons in your closet,this has to be the icing on the cake.It's one of the most offensive films I have ever had the displeasure to have seen, it should have been called Racism: A Kooky Comedy...The writers think that things like sexual abuse, oppression, casual racism, and typecasting is the height of hilarity.Segal spends the majority of the film double taking every five minutes, with a look on his face more or less saying 'My son is B-b-b-b-b-black???' and looking embarrassed.Jack Warden appears as the one who has the big office, and he has a face of disgust throughout the whole shambles.It's disgusting.
There are jokes about chicken, Washington spends the film as the subliminal innocent party, but if you look a little deeper into the film, he is depicted as nothing more than a metaphorical slave, living in a garage, and then showing the rich white man, how the other half live.It's in my top ten worse films I have ever had the displeasure of seeing, only just pipped to the post by The Sweetest Thing.Should have been called Birth Of A Nation 2: Nothing's Changed folks!!!Vomit inducing..
It's a film about a white man "discovering" himself.
Walter Whitney, a White executive, got the news that he has a Black son.
His wife and father-in-law said no, and fired him, took away his rolls, his credit cards, and even black-listed him so he can't get any job.
The film is the story of his development from a person desperate to fit into White society, to a "free" person.
Although he was in love with his Black son's mother, he dropped her like a bad habit so he could fit into the top society.
George Segal is a great underrated actor, the more so here as he managed to walk that tightrope between funny and insulting in this movie, where no stereotype is left exploited.
In his first major movie role, there's a glimmer of stardom already peeping through Denzel Washington's performance.
Perhaps it's just a sign of the movie's time, or perhaps the filmmaker wanted to accentuate the issue of racism, the White characters are so easy and so generous in their racism.
From Walter himself; immediately assuming that his Black son would be a great basketball player; to his wife, father-in-law, to his minister, even.
A good movie to see on a lazy Sunday afternoon..
Denzel Washington..
While he had appeared on TV, this was Denzel Washington's first movie role.
Already 26, here he plays Roger Porter, a teenager, whose single mother had just died, and he was in town to look up his father.
His father just happens to be Walter Whitney (George Segal), a well-off business man working for his stepfather.
Jack Warden is the stepfather.Walter of course is very surprised when this young black man shows up, but when he mentions his mother's name, Walter knows it is true, because he had had a relationship with her, loved her, but social conventions prevented him for marrying her.
So, the whole movie is about how Walter and Roger deal with the situations this puts them into.It is not a particularly good movie.
Significant only for the first movie role of Washington.
Because of the way Walter's assets are set up, when his wife kicks him out for having a black son he is essentially broke, and he loses his job.
But the big in-joke of the movie is that Walter thinks Roger is a school drop-out, because of their first conversation when Roger says he is 17, and doesn't need high school.
Walter went with him, the movie ends with them driving East in the battered convertible.