Entertainment

Film Review: Black or White

Published

11 years ago

January 30, 2015

Oakland Post

Octavia Spencer and Anthony Mackie co-star in the melodrama Black or White. (Courtesy Photo)

By Dwight Brown
NNPA Film Critic

Race relations can be a touchy subject. Only a very perceptive filmmaker could tackle the topic and be remotely successful. It would require a writer/director to be smart, balanced, sensitive and able to see both sides of the issue. The characters would almost need to be extensions of our opinions and thoughts, so everyone has something in the game. On most of those levels, this very shallow, poorly conceived and developed film, which is based on a true story, is a well-meaning misfire.

A White middle-aged Los Angeles attorney, Elliott Anderson (Kevin Costner), can’t get over the loss of his recently deceased wife. He’s turned to the bottle. His life is empty, except for the daily embrace of his biracial granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell). Elliott is content to raise Eloise, but he is inept when it comes to school schedules and child rearing responsibilities. His wife did all that stuff. Eloise lives with her granddaddy because her mom, his daughter, died in childbirth and her dad Reggie (Andre Holland), a drug addict, is MIA. Cue the stereotypes.

Mike Binder is an actor/writer/director (Reign Over Me): a jack-of-all-trades filmmaker. His movies are made for around $10 Million and gross around $19 million. He worked previously with Costner on The Upside of Anger, which fits the same budget/box office formula, and this ill-conceived film continues that pattern. The characters are poorly drawn. The dialogue is never memorable, unless Elliott is calling Reggie the N-word. And note that Black characters do not use derogatory terms when referring to White characters. Really? The premise is decent but the execution is preposterous and plays out like an afternoon soap opera. This kind of lopsided story doesn’t play out in real life. File it in The Help category.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Compton, Reggie’s family wants a little more sharing time with Eloise. In fact, the matriarch of the family, Rowena (Octavia Spencer), has decided to take Elliott to court. She is an entrepreneur who works out of her garage. Her nephew Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), a successful lawyer, will handle the custody battle. Between bottles of Jack Daniels, or whatever alcohol is handy, Elliott and his law firm partners prepare for a fight. He also, to his credit, has hired a Black math tutor for Eloise; Duvan (Mpho Koaho, TNT’s Falling Skies) is a brainy, wizard type who Elliott also turns into his “Man Friday.”

Supposedly the story is based on Binder’s own experience co-raising a biracial child. Judging by what’s on view, he seems to know a lot more about rich White people than he does about Black middle class people. Maybe he should have hired someone like Duvan to tutor him on Black culture before he went down this path. The animosity between Elliott and Rowena is a joke. They hate each other, but he allows her family to come over and use his pool. Does that happen during most custody battles? Prepare to suspend your disbelief. It’s an action you’ll have to do over and over again if you stick with this movie until it ends 120 minutes later.

Kevin Costner has had his golden moments in film: Dancing With Wolves, Field of Dreams, Open Range. This is not one of them. He must be a teetotaler in life, because he is not a convincing drunk. Nor does he find any way to make any sense out of the pompous Elliott character. Think back to Costner’s appearance at Whitney Houston’s funeral. It’s that same grandiose persona. Granted Octavia Spencer can bug her eyes out with the best of them, but her shaping of the grandmother character, who wants her grandbaby home, makes no sense. It’s a tough character to play, because it is so poorly written. She was far better in Fruitvale Station, where she worked the character and its mannerisms like an Oscar-caliber actress.

Jillian Estell is a gorgeous little girl; she should be shooting commercials. But her acting is stiff. She is no Quvenzhané Wallis—not at all. Andre Holland brings no inner complexity whatsoever to the pathetic Reggie role. No depth. No extra dimension. Nothing. The supporting actors who play Elliott’s partners and staff are solid, SAG-card holding thespians and they turn in a strong days work. The one actor who seems to rise above the fray is Anthony Mackie as the smart lawyer who is embarrassed by his deadbeat cousin.

The film’s musical score is surprisingly rich and beautiful, thanks to jazz musician Terrence Blanchard, whose composing credits also include Red Tails, Inside Man and Love & Basketball. If the rest of the movie was up to his high standards, it would have been brilliant. The other tech elements (editing, set design) are fine but nothing stands out—except Rowena’s clothes, which look like they were pulled of a costume rack and not bought in a department store.

Black or White may have good intentions, but what they are, are not obvious from what’s on view. The burden of failure rests on the writer/director who hasn’t a clue how to portray Black families; can’t get a seasoned actor to play a believable drunk, and mixes drama, melodrama and comedy (courts scenes with a sassy judge and Rowena cause a chuckle) together into an unaffecting mélange.

Black or White doesn’t work on a sociological level. Does it set race relations back? Not really. Does it gives us any new insights? None. Is it entertaining? Somewhat, more like a stodgy extended episode of Days of our Lives than a hip exploration like The Young and the Restless.

Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.

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Related Topics:anthony mackie Black or White Black or White movie film reviews Kevin Costner movie reviews octavia spencer

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Oakland Post: Week of February 11 = 17, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 11 – 17, 2026

Published

2 days ago

February 16, 2026

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Book Review: Books on Black History and Black Life for Kids

For the youngest reader, “As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons” by Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Magination Press, $18.99) is a book for young Black boys and for their mothers. It’s a hope inside a prayer that the world treats a child gently, and it could make a great baby shower gift.

Published

1 week ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo of Black History Month book covers by Terri Schlichenmeyer.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Authors: Various, Copyright: c. 2025, 2026, Publishers: Various, SRPs: $17.99-$18.99, Page Counts: Various,

Everybody in your family has stories to share.

Your parents have told you some, no doubt. Your grandparents have offered a few, too, and aunties and uncles have spun some good tales. But there’s so much more to know, so grab one of these great books and learn about Black History and Black life.

For the youngest reader, “As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons” by Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Magination Press, $18.99) is a book for young Black boys and for their mothers. It’s a hope inside a prayer that the world treats a child gently, and it could make a great baby shower gift.

If someone said you couldn’t do something that you were clearly able to do, would you fight to do it anyhow? In the new book, “Remember Her Name! Debbie Allen’s Rise to Fame” by Tami Charles, illustrated by Meredith Lucius (Charlesbridge, $17.99), a young girl in the Jim Crow South is told that she can’t dance because of the color of her skin.

She didn’t listen, though, and neither did her mother, who took her daughter to Mexico, where the girl soared! This is an inspiration for any 5-to-7-year-old; be sure to check out the back-of-the-book information, if you’re an adult fan.

Do you often hear your elders say things that sound like lessons? They might be, so “Where There is Love: A Story of African Proverbs” by Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Leticia Moreno (Penguin Workshop, $18.99) is a book you’ll like. It’s a quick-to-read collection of short proverbs that you can say every day. Kids ages 4-to-6 will easily remember what they find in this book; again, look in the back for more information.

Surely, you love your neighborhood, which is why the tale inside “Main Street: A Community Story about Redlining” by Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, illustrated by David Wilkerson (Penguin Kokila, $18.99) is a book for you.

Olivia’s neighborhood is having a block party, but she’s sad when no one shows up. That’s when she learns that “the government” is discriminating against the people and businesses near where she lives. So, what can she and her neighbors do? The answer might inspire 6-to-8-year-old kids to stand up to wrongs they see, and to help make their neighborhoods stronger and safer.

And finally, if a kid wants a book, where can they go to find it? In “I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy” by Mychal Threets, illustrated by Lorraine Nam (Random House, $18.99) is a good introduction to the best of what a library has to offer. The freedom to walk into a library and borrow a book is the theme here, as is the sheer happiness of being welcomed, no matter who you are. This is an easy book for kids as young as two and as old as five to enjoy.

On that note, if you want more, head to that library, or a nearby bookstore. They’ll be glad to see you. They’ve got stories to share.

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Art of the African Diaspora Celebrates Legacy and Community at Richmond Art Center

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

‘Be Still...’ by Virginia Jourdan is on display at the Richmond Art Center (RAC), in Richmond, CA. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The 2026 Art of the African Diaspora exhibition is on display at the Richmond Art Center (RAC) through March 14. The one-room gallery bursts with more than 100 works – paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed-media pieces – each affirming the power, beauty, and vitality of cultural expression across the African diaspora.

Now in its 29th year, Art of the African Diaspora is the Bay Area’s longest-running exhibition of its kind. Its roots stretch back to 1989, when artist and educator Marie Johnson Calloway founded Colors of Black, a salon for African American artists. That gathering inspired artists Jan Hart-Schuyers and Rae Louise Hayward to establish The Art of Living Black at the Richmond Art Center in 1996. Their vision was to showcase the creativity of emerging and established Black artists, bridging communities and widening access to audiences historically excluded from mainstream art spaces.

Over the decades, that founding vision has expanded and evolved, carried forward by artists, family members, and the Richmond Art Center after the loss of Hart-Schuyers and Hayward. In 2018, a new generation of artists formed a steering committee to organize the event; a year later, the exhibition was renamed Art of the African Diaspora to embrace the broader global connections of people of African descent.

The new name reflects not only a broader cultural lens but also an empowered community network that supports artists across the Bay Area. As part of this year’s programming, RAC will host ‘Art of the African Diaspora: Public Art in Our Communities,’ a free panel on Sat., Feb. 21, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Artists Kristine Mays, James Moore, and Malik Seneferu will join arts administrator Denise Pate for a conversation on the impact and process of public art. The discussion will be moderated by longtime arts advocate and producer Flo Wiley.

Each panelist brings a distinctive voice to the conversation. Mays, known for her ethereal wire sculptures that capture movement and spirit, has exhibited internationally and is represented in collections ranging from the Smithsonian to the Crocker Art Museum.

Sculptor and painter James Moore creates abstract metal works and colorful field paintings that explore movement, balance, and emotion. His recent public art installations include large-scale pieces in Richmond’s Shields-Reid Park. Malik Seneferu, a self-taught San Francisco native, has built a large body of work celebrating African American life through vibrant murals and expressive figurative art.

Representing the institutional side, Denise Pate oversees public arts investments as director of Community Investments at the San Francisco Arts Commission, advancing racial and cultural equity through funding and advocacy. Together, these artists and administrators will trace how public art emerges, from concept to community collaboration, and why it matters.

The Art of the African Diaspora exhibition runs through March 14 at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. The center is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission and programs are free and open to the public.