Though
never horrendous enough to destroy the film’s excellent qualities, there are
enough flaws within Black and White
to make the film feel manufactured and insincere. Despite some great
performances by the adult leads, the screenplay backs the conflict into a
corner so that only an unbelievable bit of melodrama can neatly tie up the
ending for resolution. While this is somewhat forgivable, what is most
upsetting is how the larger issues of race are glossed over in favor of the
Lifetime-movie domestic clichés that involve alcoholism, drug abuse, and a near
drowning to provide the antagonist a moment of contrived redemption.
Writer/director
Mike Binder returns to familiar topics of grief and family melodrama with Black or White, opening the film up in
the hallway of a hospital just moments after Elliott Anderson (Kevin Costner)
has been informed of his wife’s death. Carol (Jennifer Ehle), though only seen
in flashback, carries a great significance in the storyline and in the lives of
all of the characters left behind, especially her granddaughter, Eloise
(Jillian Estell). After a tragic mishap during childbirth, Elliott and Carol’s
daughter passed away, leaving Eloise in their care. So long as Carol was
standing in as a mother figure, this situation suited everyone fine, but
Eloise’s other grandmother (Octavia Spencer) begins to question the arrangement
when it is only Elliott caring for the young child.
Though it should
be mostly a case about Elliott’s excessive drinking in response to his grief,
when Eloise’s grandmother Rowena takes the custody dispute to court, issues of
race take a majority of the focus instead. While there are moments within the
screenplay that take an honest look at racial relations, there seem to be as many
stereotypes within the characterization as there are layered personalities. In
the end, it is strength in the two leads that makes this film more compelling
than contrived.
Not without
humor to prevent weighing the heavy topic even further, Costner gives one of
the more nuanced performances of his career. Even without unnecessary sequences
of Costner crying, we feel the pain in his grief and the difficulty in his
struggle to step into the shoes of the woman he has lost. Spencer does her best
to make Rowena as sympathetic, though the role begs for more depth than the
screenplay allows. Though she is a successful self-made woman surrounded by
loving family, the film is consistently tripped up by the blind motherly love
she has for her son and Eloise’s drug-addicted father, Reggie (André Holland). It
is also tiresome to be forcibly reminded that Elliott is not a racist within
the narrative, whether in his treatment of a black co-worker or the hiring of a
black tutor for Eloise. These moments are made slightly less worse due to the
committed performance from most of the actors, though newcomer Estell is far
more convincing as a cheerful Eloise than any of the scenes where she must act
angry or sad. In the end, this somewhat mistaken preference for cuteness over
talent results in the film’s most uneven character at the center of the
narrative.
The Blu-ray
release for Black or White is sadly
sparse in terms of special features, mostly padded with promotional featurettes
meant to get people interested in seeing the film but offering very little
depth to those who have already experienced it. The one new addition is a
making-of featurette, with the atrociously timely title of “Shades of Gray.”
Bad puns are unfitting a film like this, and being reminded of the
unfortunately successful contributions to literature and film is cheap and
unnecessary.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 5/10
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