Black or White

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source: Black or White

Truly impressed beyond expectation with "Black or White." Thanks to Mike Binder's well chosen words and insightful direction, combined with Kevin Costner's BEST WORK to date, this film is a gem! Based on the true experiences of the writer and his wife, the story jumps out with it's affection for children of every origin. Despite flaws and folly, all involved are neither abject villains or unstained saints in their efforts to love and handle loss...including when the legal system baits them with the worst of behaviors. What a pleasure to see effort and the constant regrouping of decent folks, even when they become adversaries. Costner, though modest about his "drunken" portrayal gives one of my favorite renditions of it...another aspect of this movie that resonates with truth. As an actor, I very much appreciated the opening scene: watch his concentration! I was amazed how the character's entire reality was broadcast immediately through his eyes, before the circumstances were revealed. It should be no surprise that I found myself with wet cheeks again and again watching. In between laughing! Supporting cast is phenomenal, warm, accessible. Octavia Spencer is a treasure yet AGAIN, vibrating with mother-earth heart, with those eyes as expressive as a Bharata Natyam dancer. Paula Winsome goes head to head with her as an earnest judge, not lacking in droll response. The child lead is suitably adorable, and the hilarious tutor an unsung hero. There are no wasted talents here. What a script Binder and company present. Food for thought, compassionate points of view, the rewards of effort and trying again and again to bridge the gap, to further our human condition. Starting at home! This is a clear message of hope for our future. Marvelous, wonderful place to engage your mind for two hours. THANK YOU to cast and crew for a delightful experience!

A drama dealing predominantly with the topics of race and a custody battle over an adorable 7-year-old girl is inherently fraught with potential hazards for any filmmaker. Screenwriter and director Mike Binder is more than up to the task, however, drawing broadly from his own experiences as the adoptive father of a bi-racial child to inform the narrative of the excellent Black And White, which had its world premiere at TIFF. Producer and star Kevin Costner, who reteams with Binder after the pair collaborated on 2005's The Upside Of Anger, believed in the project so strongly that he took the uncommon step of financing the indie's $9 million budget himself after studios both big and small shied away from the movie's racially-charged subject matter. Costner plays wealthy L.A. lawyer Elliot Anderson, a man who's a little too well-acquainted with fresh tragedy in his life. Black And White's opening scene finds Elliot having just lost his wife in a car accident, relatively soon after his teenage daughter died whilst giving birth. The couple had been raising their mixed-race grandchild, Eloise (played by Jillian Estell), since the drug-addled father had ended up in prison. Elliot's navigation through his grief and mourning is complicated by his new responsibility as Eloise's sole caregiver, an escalating drinking problem, and soon a custody dispute with Rowena (played by an efficient Octavia Spencer), the paternal grandmother of Eloise who feels her granddaughter would be better off living with her side of the family. Black And White raises numerous thoughtful points about race and prejudice, most notably during an Oscar-bait courtroom scene where Elliot speaks at length on the topic with a reasoned perspective that also reflects the character's flaws. It's Costner's best role in ages, as he plays Elliot with a perfect balance of both deep vulnerability and brusqueness. Newcomer Estell demonstrates impressive range that helps elevate Black And White above the trappings of over-sentimentality that frequently torpedoes films centred around cute kids. Also strong in supporting roles are Toronto's Mpho Koaho as an overqualified tutor and driver hired by Elliot and stand-up comedian Bill Burr as a law associate and friend of Elliot's. Burr, whose hilarious Monday Morning Podcast I'm a regular listener of, shows surprising depth in a meatier role than he got to play on the other acting gig he'd be best known for, as one of Saul Goodman's henchmen on Breaking Bad. Black And White tastefully deals with its delicate subject matters of race, loss, and family strife, resulting in a touching and powerful film. And aside from an ill-advised final act action scene that allows one character an opportunity at redemption, Binder's screenplay and his character's performances feel very relatable and grounded in reality. mediaboymusings.blogspot.ca

This movie is as simplistic as its title "Black or White", and lacks authenticity in the writing, acting and plot development. In the beginning, there's on-screen mention of being inspired by a true story, but nothing provided at the end to identify whose story it was. The subject matter is timely and important in this race-baiting world we live in, but characters never developed enough to get beyond actors reading their lines, and doing the unlikely stuff they're directed to do. Three examples follow. First, the mixed race little girl, Eloise, who is the subject of the custody dispute, has lost her mother, father and grandmother, never shows in her expression or behavior any of the effects of the terrible tragedies that have befallen her. Second, her white Grandfather, Elliot, never exhibits the qualities that would make her want to stay with him so much. Played by Kevin Costner, he is unconvincing as both a grieving drunk guy and concerned grandparent. Swaying slightly through scenes and calling his long-time law partner's wife "Fudge" instead of "Fay" comes off as playing the role rather than really feeling the devastation of the recent death of his wife (we never find out why), the death of his young daughter in childbirth (again, we don't know why, and we see photo flashbacks of her, and would she ever be stupid enough to get pregnant by a crack-smoking criminal?) Third, the instigator of the custody battle, Rowena, the child's paternal grandmother, as played by Octavia Spencer, is a caricature of a bossy, controlling black Mama, with lots of wide-eyed officious bantering, demanding hugs and slapping her drug-addled son into submission. She's in danger of becoming "Medea" in a Tyler Perry movie rather than a first rate actress. Other scenes lacking credibility are the ones with the extended black family, all happy campers making dinner, watching TV, and playing instruments together one side of the street, while across the street, front porch crack-smoking is going on among Eloise's father and friends. At movie's conclusion, during the custody courtroom scenes, Elliott gets to unload in a moving speech, where Costner finally gets to use his acting chops. And, then turns over to his partner attorney a question to his granddaughter's shaky father on the witness stand, which is "how do you spell Eloise", and he botches it, so judge gives Elliott full custody. And all opposition fades away. Teary-eyed Elliott off to rehab, and Eloise visits cousins for two weeks. I wasn't bored,thank you, but this is a movie made for Lifetime TV, not the big screen. It's a subject that needs to be addressed, but could have been so much more thought-provoking and memorable!

Black or White is a powerful film starring Kevin Costner and Olivia Spencer which cuts along the raw, exposed nerve of racial division. Child actress Jillian Estell steals scene after scene as the precocious object of a custody fight. Costner has recently lost his wife to an auto accident. He and his wife were caring for their granddaughter, the product of an interracial mating of their daughter and Octavia Spencer's crack-addicted son. Costner's daughter died in childbirth while she was a teenager and the father was in his twenties. Spencer plays Grandma Wewe, the paternal grandmother, and she appears to be caring for an entire neighborhood in East LA. But Grandma Wewe wants sole custody of her granddaughter, even though Costner is a successful lawyer and able to provide amply for his granddaughter's needs. Grandma Wewe wants to take her granddaughter to be raised as a black girl. Her son has been absent from his daughter's life for most of it, and he turns up as Grandma files suit for custody. Costner plays a flawed character, a lawyer who is on leave from his firm while he sorts out his emotions after the death of his wife. His coping mechanism is alcohol, lots of booze. The fight between the white grandparent and the black grandparent raises hard issues of race. This film meets the issues head-on and does not flinch from the harsh realities, but the subject matter may make audiences squirm. Jillian Estell lights up the screen, and her relationship with Costner is heart-warming and lovely. Black or White is easily one of the best films of 2014, and should be around at awards time.

Kevin Costner and cast were top notch. I had no idea what to expect going in but loved this movie from start to finish. The film was screened in Santa Barbara with a Q & A with Kevin Costner. He believed in this movie so much that he put up his own money to have it made. Thank you Mr. Costner. It was such a treat to see such a thought provoking movie with humor and great acting all while dealing with subject matter (race relations) in an honest and though provoking way. Kevin Costner is at the top of his game and Octavia Spencer steals every scene she is in. The little girl who played Eloise held her own and had one of the most touching scenes in the movie when Costner's character is reading her a bedtime story.....priceless! Highly recommend it!

Wow. How enthralling! It has a slow beginning, but when Grandma We-wee (Octavia Spencer) shows up, she stirs a storm in Elliot's (Kevin Costner) already tempestuous life and the story begins. Great stakes are at risk. In the first hour of the film, we learn about the characters, what they care for, what they hurt about, what they want. Eloise's (Jillian Estell) helpless position amidst the stormy relationship between her Grandma Wee-wee and her Grandfather "Papa" Elliot, pierces one's heart. The conflict grows gradually and relentlessly. In the second hour of the film, I kept drying my tears! It has several high-voltage emotional moments. There are strong truths revealed. I felt Elliot's pain and dilemma—Kevin Costner is brilliant. The stronger antagonist appears: the Eloise's drug-addict father. For a very long moment, it feels like antagonism and injustice will win--I felt chills of worry, really! Tension builds up throughout until it peaks: terrible things happen and hearts are shattered and souls touched. The scene when Reggie has a change of heart is incredibly poignant: I heard sniffles in the audience...Tears rolled. Black or White is strong drama, but it does have humorous bits that balance out the heaviness of the protagonist's ordeal. There's also great visual storytelling: Elliot's mirages, some physical confrontations, and the wordless dynamics between characters. This is such a relevant film. We all want the best for our children. But what I find powerful is the theme and the message. In the end, it doesn't matter whether is black or white—what matters is whether is right or wrong. It's a beautiful script. And it's also an honestly performed script. Kevin Costner shines: he invests himself into this flawed hero with such realism and conviction. Octavia Spencer is so sweet and pungent and a stubborn self-made woman. Jillian Estell: she is a darling and a stoic lovely little girl. Andre Holland (Reggie) is so genuine in his acting--he portrays a broken man with a hidden heart. And the interactions between Elliot, Grandma Wee-wee, the lawyers, and the judge are dramatic and hilarious. Overall fantastic performers! The culmination of the story and the resolution of conflicts feel satisfactory. Our hero reaches his goal and more. And the child, gets the best of both worlds. There's forgiveness and healing. Please watch it. You'll walk out of the theater teary-eyed and with a smile! Cheers.

I will always love Kevin Costner for "Dancing with Wolves" and this is why I went to see the movie. The theater was packed, but I think mostly because it was all seats $ 5 on Tuesdays. I share a few sentiments which Costner in his role as a grandfather of a bi-racial girl expressed. First of all his granddaughter is not black, she is half black and half white. It always bothered me when President Obama made himself black in order to win the presidency. He was brought up by a white mother and white grandparents and the black part of his family only showed up when he became famous. When I was young I loved to get a tan which was darker than the skin color of Obama and I probably have not a drop of black blood in my ancestry. I have always thought that some of the black (and for that matter bi-racial] people I met were the most beautiful human beings I have ever seen, so I never had anything against black people . The other thing is, that of course I do see first that somebody has a different skin color, though I have to admit that I know a lot of people, who consider themselves another color which would have never occurred to me if they would not have told me. In this regard I am colorblind. But much more important than the color of the skin is the personality of a person I meet. And it is only the personality which determines if I am going to become friends with somebody, certainly not the skin color. So I guess I sort of identified with the "white" grandfather here. The film is well made and entertaining and pulls on your heart strings, but it does not give the right answers or asks the right questions. I also did not quite understand how the seventeen year old daughter of educated and wealthy white parents ends up with a black crack addict. There must have been very little supervision or connection with the daughter that she would end up pregnant and out of the control of the parents. So the anger of the parents was also directed against themselves not only against the black part of the family and that probably led to the drinking problem. My personal knowledge is more or less limited to alcoholics, I have never had a close or extended contact with a crack addict. So I can only say that I think that even a functioning alcoholic is not necessarily a good choice to raise a little girl. And from all I ever learned about crack addicts they certainly are not up to the task either. And neither did I think the black grandmother was. She obviously chooses to close her eyes to the shortcomings of her son and she does not strike me as a loving person, when she sues the other grandfather when he is freshly dealing with the accidental death of his wife. How cruel and mean can you be? And that young black lawyer who wants to play only the race card, is also not a relative I would like to have. But nobody is perfect and many parents, who bring up children without having to defend that right in court, are flawed too. So basically the film tries to portray the whole tragedy of the little girl as a race problem, but in reality it is the problem of human failure. Oh, and one other thing I have never understood. In my dealings with black people I heard the N word all the time. They use it so often that it comes over as an endearing term. Why the heck does it become an insult when a white person uses it? I enjoyed the movie and I thought it was quite funny despite the sad subject, but it did nothing for me in regard to race relationships.

Kevin Costner's "Black or White" is one of those break-through movies who bring the silver screen art to a next level. In his case, the movie brings the cultural and social conversation about race to a level it should have been long time ago. The movie suggests a new paradigm for the topic of race, a level where the social and personal relationships between people no longer include the skin color. The movie portrays with a keen sense the tension and resistance our cultural biases pose to any attempt to remove the racial aspects from the confrontations between people of different skin color. In "Black or White" Kevin Costner breaks the pattern of action hero he has got us used with, displaying acting traits of the highest level. With the camera close-ups on his face most of the time, his eyes add immense value to his acting, displaying real emotions and deep feelings only those who experienced parenting can truly understand and react to. Overall, "Black or White" is a new paradigm of both his personal acting and the cultural and social topic of racial tension.