Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

viewsonfilm.com James Toback directs an extremely underrated film that plays out like a slick, urban version of a Robert Altman piece. Things unfold like a sledgehammer towards the end (I like how a rap music video carries the closing credits into a sort of weird epiphany). The performances are solid and the plot lines intertwine with a feverish tone. Black and White got an extremely unfair ribbing from critics. I think it's powerful stuff. In terms of the acting, Ben Stiller as the unacquainted lead, anchors things and he deviates from his comedic persona to give a unhinge performance. Also, look for a scene where co-stars Mike Tyson and Brooke Shields share a weird and poignant moment. All in all, Black and White gets my full recommendation. See it again (or for the first time) and give it its rightful due.

paul2001sw-1 Hip-hop is not just a style of music, for it comes associated with an attitude, an attitude that notoriously does not wholly reject the ghetto from which it springs. Whether the music, and culture, should thus be seen as the free expression of the dispossessed, or as one of the chains tying them down, is this a moot point (though it's worth noting that every revolution in popular music over the last half-century has been seen by respectable society as the end of the world). 'Black and White' is a celebrity-studded collection of small stories about characters living the hip-hop life, its focus on the interplay of the white community with this essentially black form of music. It's not badly executed, although it's hard to get very interested in any of the characters. One peculiarity, though, is how little hip-hop there actually is on the soundtrack, a strange vacuum at the heart of the film; also, we see little in the way of everyday life in the world from which the music emerged. The result is watchable, but there are no real insights, sociological or musical, to be had.

cadmandu A white woman and her gay (sic) husband are making a documentary about white high school kids who hang with and emulate black people. There are several sub plots, one involving a basketball player who is offered a bribe to throw a game, but it's not clear if there is actually an overall plot to which the rest can be sub.James Toback is a well respected indie writer/producer/director, and he got a stellar and eclectic cast to work in this film. There's Robert Downey, Brooke Shields, Elijah Woods (in probably the only serious role he's ever had), Claudia Schiffer (speaking flawless Americanese), Mike Tyson (worth seeing just for the novelty), Joe Pantaleone, Ben Stiller, and some folks who are probably famous rappers but I am not acquainted with that world.What happens when you put this wildly inconsistent cast on a film that has a very loose plot and a kind of cinema (quasi-)verite style (shot with steady-cam) it's a little like watching an ice hockey game in which all the players are chess masters -- it sure is strange. I didn't say bad, or uninteresting, or unworthy -- just strange! Mike Tyson playing himself in this film is about what you'd expect -- shallow, unreliable, and self-absorbed, like any ex-con you'll ever meet. Elijah Woods gets what amounts to a cameo of no substance. Robert Downey Jr. does a clichéd gay man, and I couldn't help but think he looked very worried what his friends would think about it. Claudia Schiffer absolutely cannot act, but fortunately she gets to play a woman who is twisted and obscure anyway. Putting her in this film was a poor choice, but casting Ben Stiller as a NYPD detective and Claudia's ex! has to be the casting blunder of all time.So this is not your ordinary flick, but if you're up for something different you might enjoy it. Fans of James Toback will no doubt enjoy it for its subtler fine points, but I think most people will just be baffled by all the noise.

bob the moo A group of white kids become the focus of a pair of documentary film makers looking at the phenomenon of the `wigger' - white kids adopting the mannerisms and culture of the black, hip-hop community. Meanwhile gangsters-come-rappers Rich Bower and Cigar have to face up to the opening of a white club in their neighbourhood. Also college basketball player Dean is set up for throwing a game and forced to provide evidence to the cops on Bower.If my plot summary sounds like it's confused or unclear, there's a good reason for that; it's because the film itself is very much spinning all over the place with a whole lot of strands. It is apparent that the film is trying to make a bigger point about culture, identity and race relations in the US but the frustrating thing is that it just doesn't manage to do it. It has plenty of interest moments and plenty of interesting characters that say a lot, but it never manages to come together in anything that is either thought provoking or satisfying.I had hoped that the film would pull all it's threads together to deliver a point but it didn't. The stories themselves are quite interesting on the whole, but it is evident that this is not what the film was after. Hence we don't get a conclusion, we get an unclear `6 months later' finale that even just plays over the end credits - that's how little the stories actually meant. OK, so that leaves us with the commentary concept of this film - that it's not just about the actions, it's about the wider issues. If that is the case, the film still flounders a bit because it was not clear to me what point it was trying to make beyond the `white kids like black culture', `black people don't like white people stealing their culture' etc etc stuff that shouldn't have taken 100 minutes to make!Despite these comments, I did enjoy watching the film. The semi-improvised nature of the film makes for an enjoyable experience and for scenes with flowing, quite natural dialogue. The downside of that is that many of the cast mistake mumbling in ebonics for interesting dialogue. The cast is still impressive despite the fact that many of them have nothing really to do. The main players don't impress that much - Downey and Shields are pretty poor, mainly because their characters are pointless. The various white kids just slum it in wigger roles that would be funny if they weren't so accurate. The cameos and roles for rappers are actually quite good - but most of them are just playing the gangster roles that they play everyday in their music. Raekwon and Power from Wu Tang were both pretty good but he film benefits mostly from the sheer number of faces rather than the quality. Houston, Tyson, Pantoliano, Stiller, Method Man, Ratner and various other rappers all add interest.Overall this film is entertaining in it's freewheeling manner but it is hard to ignore the fact that it doesn't achieve anything. The stories don't really go anywhere and the points about race and cultural identity get muddled and lost in the mix. It has potential and it is definitely interesting, but it is badly flawed.