Black and White (1999 drama film)

Last updated
Black and White
Black and White (1999 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by James Toback
Written byJames Toback
Produced by Daniel Bigel
Michael Mailer
Ron Rotholz
Edward R. Pressman (executive producer)
Starring
CinematographyDavid Ferrara
Edited by Myron Kerstein
Music by American Cream Team
Production
company
Distributed by Screen Gems (through Sony Pictures Releasing) [1]
Release dates
  • September 4, 1999 (1999-09-04)(Telluride)
  • April 5, 2000 (2000-04-05)(United States)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million
Box office$5 million [2]

Black and White is a 1999 American drama film directed by James Toback, and starring Robert Downey Jr., Gaby Hoffmann, Allan Houston, Jared Leto, Scott Caan, Claudia Schiffer, Brooke Shields, Bijou Phillips, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan (Raekwon, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Oli "Power" Grant, Masta Killa, Bruce Lamar Mayfield "Chip Banks" and Inspectah Deck) and Onyx (Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz). The film also features Ben Stiller as a sleazy police detective, as well as Mike Tyson playing himself and Michael B. Jordan in his film debut. It had its first showing at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 1999, followed by a second screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 15, 1999. It had its theatrical release in the United States on April 5, 2000.

Contents

Plot

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 gang of white kids who want to be on the inside of what they consider the coolest scene of the day. Sam (Shields), a filmmaker, is making a documentary about Rich and his circle, with the help of her husband Terry (Downey), a homosexual who doesn't feel at home in this milieu.

Dean (Houston) is Rich's black friend since childhood and a skilled college basketball player. He is offered a deal by a bookmaker, Mark (Stiller) to throw a game 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.

Cast

Production

Most of the script was improvised by the cast. [3] All of Claudia Schiffer's lines were completely written. [3]

Because she had not had them done previously, Claudia Schiffer had to have her ears pierced especially for the large hoop earrings worn by her character. In addition to wearing fake dreadlocks, Brooke Shields also wore a nose ring for this film, for which she had her nose temporarily pierced.

Reception

Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 38% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 82 reviews; the critical consensus states, "The atmosphere is affecting, and the story, at times, is compelling, but with a lean script and limp direction, Black and White doesn't add up to much." [4] On Metacritic, which assigns an average rating out of 100 based on review s from film critics, the film has a rating score of 47%, aggregating 27 reviews. [5] Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars. [6]

In the United States, Black and White grossed $5,241,315 in its four-week release. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Laurel Canyon</i> (film) 2002 film by Lisa Cholodenko

Laurel Canyon is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. The film stars Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, and Alessandro Nivola.

<i>Party Monster</i> (film) 2003 American film

Party Monster is a 2003 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, who are also producers along with Jon Marcus and Christine Vachon. It stars Macaulay Culkin as the drug-addled "king of the Club Kids". The film tells the story of the rise and fall of the infamous New York City party promoter Michael Alig. This was Macaulay Culkin's first film in nearly nine years since his starring role in the 1994 film Richie Rich.

<i>The Singing Detective</i> (film) 2003 American film by Keith Gordon

The Singing Detective is a 2003 American musical crime comedy film directed by Keith Gordon and loosely based on the BBC serial of the same name, a work by British writer Dennis Potter. It stars Robert Downey Jr. and features a supporting cast that includes Katie Holmes, Adrien Brody, Robin Wright Penn, Mel Gibson, Jeremy Northam and Carla Gugino as well as a number of songs from the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bijou Phillips</span> American actress (born 1980)

Bijou Lilly Phillips Masterson is an American retired actress and singer. The daughter of musicians John Phillips and Geneviève Waïte, she began her career as a model. Phillips made her singing debut with I'd Rather Eat Glass (1999), and since her first major film appearance in Black and White (1999), she has acted in Almost Famous (2000), Bully (2001), The Door in the Floor (2004), Hostel: Part II (2007), and Choke (2008). From 2010 to 2013, she played the recurring role of Lucy Carlyle on the television series Raising Hope.

<i>Disneys The Kid</i> 2000 film directed by Jon Turteltaub

The Kid is a 2000 American fantasy comedy-drama film, directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Audrey Wells. The film follows a 40-year-old image consultant who is mysteriously confronted by an eight-year-old version of himself ; Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin, Chi McBride, and Jean Smart also star.

<i>Married to the Mob</i> 1988 American film directed by Jonathan Demme

Married to the Mob is a 1988 American crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, and Alec Baldwin. Pfeiffer plays Angela de Marco, a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Modine as the undercover FBI agent assigned the task of investigating her mafia connections.

<i>Richie Rich</i> (film) 1994 American film

Richie Rich is a 1994 American children's adventure comedy film directed by Donald Petrie. The film is loosely based on the comic character of the same name created by Alfred Harvey and Warren Kremer. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. The film stars Macaulay Culkin, John Larroquette, Edward Herrmann, Jonathan Hyde, and Christine Ebersole, while Reggie Jackson, Claudia Schiffer, and Ben Stein appear in cameo roles. Culkin's younger brother, Rory Culkin, played the part of Young Richie Rich. In theaters, the film was shown with a Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon called Chariots of Fur, and was followed by the 1998 direct-to-video sequel Richie Rich's Christmas Wish.

<i>Prefontaine</i> (film) 1997 American film

Prefontaine is a 1997 American biographical film chronicling the life of the American long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his death at age 24. Jared Leto plays the title character and R. Lee Ermey plays Bill Bowerman. The film was written by Steve James and Eugene Corr, and directed by James. Prefontaine tells the story from the point of view of Bill Dellinger, played by Ed O'Neill, the assistant coach who was with him day-to-day, and Nancy Alleman, the runner's girlfriend at the time of his death.

<i>Kansas City</i> (film) 1996 American crime film by Robert Altman

Kansas City is a 1996 American crime film directed by Robert Altman, and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Murphy and Steve Buscemi. The musical score of Kansas City is integrated into the film, with modern-day musicians recreating the Kansas City jazz of 1930s.

<i>The Adventures of Ford Fairlane</i> 1990 action/comedy film directed by Renny Harlin

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is a 1990 American action comedy film noir mystery film directed by Renny Harlin and written by David Arnott, James Cappe, and Daniel Waters based on a story by Arnott and Cappe. The film stars comedian Andrew Dice Clay as the title character, Ford Fairlane, a "Rock n' Roll Detective", whose beat is the music industry in Los Angeles. True to his name, Ford drives a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner in the film.

<i>American Outlaws</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Les Mayfield

American Outlaws is a 2001 American Western action film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, and Ali Larter.

<i>Wassup Rockers</i> 2005 American film

Wassup Rockers is a 2005 American drama film, written, produced, and directed by Larry Clark.

<i>Friends & Lovers</i> (1999 film) 1999 film

Friends & Lovers is a 1999 American romantic-drama film directed and co-written by George Haas about a group of twentysomethings on a ski trip. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Claudia Schiffer and Robert Downey Jr.

<i>Misery</i> (film) 1990 film by Rob Reiner

Misery is a 1990 American psychological thriller film directed by Rob Reiner, based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name, starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, and Frances Sternhagen. The plot centers around an author who is held captive by an obsessive fan who forces him to rewrite the finale to his novel series.

<i>Chelsea Walls</i> 2001 film by Ethan Hawke

Chelsea Walls is a 2001 American drama film directed by Ethan Hawke in his directorial debut and written by Nicole Burdette, based on her 1990 play of the same name. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, Natasha Richardson, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Robert Sean Leonard. The story takes place in the historic Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan.

<i>New York, I Love You</i> 2009 anthology film directed by Fatih Akın and 10 others

New York, I Love You is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama anthology film consisting of eleven short films, each by a different director. The shorts all relate in some way to the subject of love and are set among the five boroughs of New York City. The film is a sequel of sorts to the 2006 film Paris, je t'aime, which had the same structure and is the second installment in the Cities of Love franchise, created and produced by Emmanuel Benbihy. Unlike Paris, je t'aime, the shorts of New York, I Love You all have a unifying thread, of a videographer who films the other characters.

<i>Dark Streets</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

Dark Streets is a 2008 film adaptation of the play by Glenn M. Stewart, directed by Rachel Samuels from a screenplay by Wallace King. The film stars Gabriel Mann, Bijou Phillips, Izabella Miko, Elias Koteas, Michael Fairman and Toledo Diamond. The film's blues score is composed by George Acogny, featuring B.B. King. It premiered at the 2008 CineVegas Film Festival on June 14, winning a Special Jury Prize for "the collaborative craftsmanship in achieving its visual splendor and showmanship" and was given a limited release on December 12. Dark Streets received negative reviews from critics, praising the 1930s aesthetic and musical numbers, but criticized the use of film noir elements propping up an unengaging story.

<i>Spoken Word</i> (film) 2009 American film

Spoken Word is a 2009 drama film directed by Victor Nuñez and starring Kuno Becker, Ruben Blades, Miguel Sandoval and Persia White.

<i>Henrys Crime</i> 2010 film by Malcolm Venville

Henry's Crime is a 2010 American romantic comedy crime film directed by Malcolm Venville and starring Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, and James Caan. The film follows Henry (Reeves), who goes to jail for a bank robbery he did not commit. Once released, he plans to rob the same bank with his former cellmate Max (Caan). The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2010, and was given a limited release in the United States on April 8, 2011.

<i>"Sr."</i> 2022 American film

"Sr." is a 2022 American documentary film that examines the careers and relationship between Robert Downey Jr. and his father, Robert Downey Sr. The film, directed by Chris Smith, was released theatrically on November 18, 2022, and was released on Netflix on December 2.

References

  1. ↑ "Black and White (2000)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  2. ↑ Black and White at Box Office Mojo
  3. 1 2 3 "Black & White". IMDb.
  4. ↑ "Black and White". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Black and White". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  6. ↑ Ebert, Roger (April 5, 2000). "Black and White". Roger Ebert. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.