Carbon Copy (1981) * * *

 

Directed by:  Michael Schultz

Starring:  George Segal, Denzel Washington, Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, Dick Martin, Paul Winfield, Tom Poston

This is a comedy you wouldn't see made now for two reasons:  One, multi-racial families are more common.  Second, Carbon Copy is a satire on race, stereotypes, and misguided assumptions about both.  Are we capable of laughing with these topics anymore?  

Carbon Copy stars George Segal as Walter Whitney, an executive at his father-in-law's company living the high life in a nice California mansion.  Walter's real last name is Wiesenthal, which he changed at the behest of his father-in-law (Warden), and he's frustrated by his wife Vivian (Saint James) who won't sleep with him and his stepdaughter's attitude towards him.  One day, a young black man named Roger (Washington) stops by his office, informing Walter that he is his son from a long-ago relationship Walter had with a black woman.  Walter ended the relationship also at the urging of his father-in-law, who tells him "the wind blows white, not black,"  Roger's mother has died, and Walter now feels responsible to take care of Roger. 

This leads to outlandish complications, including Walter being ostracized from his family and his home, losing his job, and forced to live in the ghetto with Roger while struggling to gain any meaningful employment.  Roger, however, seems to have a slight amount of bemusement about Walter's misfortune, stemming from his anger over Walter leaving his mother before he was born.  When Walter winds up in jail trying to protect his son from the police, Roger has a heart-to-heart with Walter which stems from truth.

Walter has false preconceptions about Roger which lead to some funny moments, such as assuming Roger is good at basketball because he's black (leading to a hilarious payoff at a pickup game) and also believing Roger is a high school dropout.  But Walter and Roger bond and learn to speak honestly to each other over race and their beliefs.  Segal is the natural straight man able to shoulder the difficulties which have befallen him.  Washington, with his wide, but knowing smile, is at-home and confident in his first film role, a genesis of later roles for the superstar actor.  Some may find Carbon Copy offensive strictly because it pokes fun at taboo topics which shouldn't be taboo, but I found it humorous and, in a way, reconciliatory.  

Footnote:  When I first saw this movie in the early 1980's, I suspected with no evidence that we wouldn't hear much from Denzel Washington after this movie.  I liked him and his performance, and it's obvious from Washington's career trajectory that I didn't know what the hell I was talking about.