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Black And White [1999]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

James Toback's Black and White, a portrait of white and black culture mixing it up on the streets of Manhattan, is like two films colliding. In the centre of the swirl are a group of upper-class white teens (led by Elijah Wood and pop singer Bijou Phillips) who appropriate hip-hop culture to rebel against their affluent lifestyle, and a posse of gangstas and drug dealers (led by rap producer Oli "Power" Grant) who are themselves trying to get off the streets and into the business culture through their music. Ageing indie filmmaker Toback has long shown an interest in character contradictions and quirks. Here the dynamic works: the two groups are genuinely curious about one another and mix with a cautious but untroubled ease. Less successful is the contrived drama that orbits this cultural mix but never quite meshes--such as Ben Stiller as a self-loathing New York cop who blackmails college basketball star Allan Houston into betraying his boyhood buddy turned street criminal.

Toback spices his Altmanesque style of restless camera work and impressionistic intercutting with attitude, nervous energy, and in-your-face sex. There's an interesting story to be told here, but the provocative cultural mix gets lost in the self-conscious melodrama and only periodically roars to life, notably in the edgy, unpredictable scenes with Mike Tyson (an inspired bit of casting that works marvellously). Also featured are rapper Raekwon, supermodel Claudia Schiffer, Brooke Shields, and Robert Downey Jr. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com


An enjoyable enough watch even if the plots don't really go anywhere.
Review date: 2008-07-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

Drama with two major plot strands: the first is Robert Downey Jr and Brooke Shields as a documentary-making couple making a documentary about white middle-class kids into black hip-hop culture and the second is Allan Houston's young black college basketball player being offered $50,000 by Ben Stiller's corrupt cop to throw a basketball match, which he then does but is then blackmailed by Ben Stiller and threatened with jail if he doesn't rat on his gangster friend Power. If you are a hip-hop fan you will enjoy seeing roles for a number of rappers in this film including Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killer. Also look out for Claudia Schiffer as Houston's treacherous girlfriend and a surprisingly intelligent Mike Tyson in a cameo as himself. Ultimately the plots in this film don't really go anywhere but that said it is still an enjoyable enough watch.

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Reviews


Pointless, self-indulgent tosh
Review date: 2007-06-29 Rating: 2 out of 10

As a big RDJ fan, I was hoping for an intellectually challenging and provocative film in which his talents were allowed to shine... I got half of what I wanted. Robert Downey Jr is excellent, as always, but the film itself is a muddled, self-indulgent, vaguely exploitative vanity project with little to commend it. I would imagine that the production team were aiming for words like 'edgy', 'brave', 'challenging' and all the other issue-confronting pscyho-babble that people struggling to justify a film's existence tend to spout. However, it fails on every count, and the simple truth is that the characters are unconvincing and poorly developed, the narrative is almost non-existent, the acting is largely mediocre, and the big over-riding issue that the makers are apparently trying to 'confront' is such a cliche as to be almost meaningless. Please, don't waste your time or your money watching this.

Where's the story?
Review date: 2007-01-30 Rating: 4 out of 10

Nothing remarkable at all in this film. It's meant to show what happens when poor black kids get involved with rich white kids but it's not very gritty or shocking or anything really, just a waste of an hour and a half.

The vast majority of the charcters don't have any reason to exist and re only in the film because they contractually have to be. There seems to be more concern with getting top names from Hollywood and the hip-hop scene than finding characters for them to play.

The only redeeming feature is seeing Robert Downey Jr. chatting up Mike Tyson. By the way, Mike Tyson plays himself in this film. He just happens to be hanging around with a load of kids while he's on parole.

When there is some kind of plot it's a good film, but there's just not enough to make you want to watch it again. Ben Stiller's character and storyline are good, and you could probably have made the whole film about him, an opportunity wasted.

If you just like seeing the stars come out then this is for you. I won't bother watching it again.

Worth seeing for Downey Jr.
Review date: 2004-03-22 Rating: 6 out of 10

I saw this on tv last night and while I didn't find it especially engaging it does have some interesting stuff to say, but mainly its worth seeing for Robert Downey Jr's performance. He's real funny, and the scene where he's coming on to Mike Tyson is brilliant. I mean personally if I was a fella I just wouldn't say to Tyson 'I had a dream and you were holding me', would you? Tyson is pretty good too and came across as having a much softer character than I'd thought. The character of Greta was well played by Claudia Schiffer too, though I have to admit for most of the film I was thinking 'she looks just like Claudia Schiffer' until it dawned on me it was her. Dopey or what? Ben Stiller plays a good creep, and somewhere in there, according to the credits, is Jared Leto but I don't recall seeing him. Maybe he was the kids teacher, I don't know. But if you don't recognise an actor they must be doing something right.

Great film
Review date: 2002-07-17 Rating: 8 out of 10

great film with one of the better commentries which gives particularly interesting insight into the scenes with Mike Tyson and Method Man.

It doesnt get five stars because it can be quite cliched occasionally and isnt a patch on other films of the same genre but then any film which sees Robert Downey Junior getting an unexpected slap and sqealing like a girl as a result gets my vote.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Scott Caan
Claudia Schiffer
Robert Downey Jr.
Ben Stiller
Allan Houston

Creators:
Ben Stiller (Primary Contributor)
Allan Houston (Primary Contributor)
James Toback (Writer)
Alinur Velidedeoglu (Producer)
Beata Rosenbaum (Producer)
Daniel Bigel (Producer)
Edward R. Pressman (Producer)
Hooman Majd (Producer)
Jennifer Roth (Producer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822079632
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2001-03-26
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 95 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2000-04-05
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Icelandic (Subtitled)
Language: Bulgarian (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Hungarian (Subtitled)
Language: Polish (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: Czech (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: French (Dubbed)

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