Barnes & Noble

Writer-director James Toback (Two Girls and a Guy) daringly tackles the subject of race relations with this absorbing drama, which attempts to analyze the appeal of hip-hop culture to upscale white youth. Filmed in quasi-documentary style -- utilizing handheld cameras, long takes, and overlapping dialogue -- the diffusely plotted Black and White relies on the seemingly improvisational interaction between its cast members. These include Bijou Phillips, who plays an upper-middle-class New York teen whose posturing impresses gangsta rappers in Harlem; Brooke Shields, appearing as a documentary filmmaker married to openly gay Robert Downey Jr.; Allan Houston, portraying an African-American college basketball star bribed by undercover cop Ben Stiller; and, in a cameo role, Mike Tyson. The large ensemble also includes Claudia Schiffer, Stacy Edwards, Jared Leto, Elijah Wood, Joe Pantoliano, and even Toback himself. An unusually ambitious little film, Black and White never quite answers the questions it poses, but it will fully engage viewers attracted to hip-hop's urban milieu. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The inner workings of the New York hip-hop scene, and the fascination of white observers with rap music and hip-hop culture, set the stage for this drama written and directed by James Toback. Rich Bower (Power) is a mover and shaker in the world of rap music (he's involved with a number of other licit and illicit business ventures as well), and his apartment is a favored meeting place for musicians, hangers-on, and hipsters who want to seem cool, including a clique of white kids who want to be on the inside of whey they consider the coolest scene of the day. Sam (Brooke Shields), a filmmaker, is making a documentary about Rich and his circle, with the help of her husband Terry (Robert Downey Jr.), a closeted homosexual who doesn't feel at home in this milieu. Dean (Allan Houston) is a talented college basketball player and Rich's friend since childhood who is offered a deal by a bookmaker, Mark (Ben Stiller) to throw a few games for a price. Dean takes the money against his better judgment, and he soon realizes how much of a mistake he made when Mark turns out to be a cop hoping to dig up dirt on Rich. Rich in turn discovers that Dean might be forced to tell what he knows to stay out of jail, and he decides that Dean has to be killed; however, rather than murder his friend himself, Rich asks one of the white kids who hangs out with him, who seems especially eager to prove himself, to do it for him. The kid, however, is actually the son of the District Attorney. Also contributing to Black and White's supporting cast are controversial boxing legend Mike Tyson, musician Bijou Phillips, Wu Tang Clan rapper Raekwon, model Claudia Schiffer, and Donald Trump's former spouse Marla Maples. Mark Deming

Entertainment Weekly

...Black and White easily earns distinction as the greatest semi-improvised didactic fantasy ever made about cultural miscegenation. Troy Patterson

Entertainment Weekly

...Black and White easily earns distinction as the greatest semi-improvised didactic fantasy ever made about cultural miscegenation. Troy Patterson

Product Details

• UPC: 043396052888
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:40:00
• Sales Rank: 31,507

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