Very well executed

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Major Spoilers "Black or White" is a drama co-produced and starring Kevin Costner, written and directed by Mike Binder.The plot is, and "is not" about race. It's about the ties of family, forgiveness, and stepping up to responsibility-- but race also is in the midst of each of those issues, complicating each for the characters.I don't know that anyone's social views will be all that changed by the events of the film. If anything, they might be affirmed.Oscar winner Octavia Spencer does solid work with maternal grandmother Rowena, who is more nuanced than the film's trailer might suggest. Nonetheless, the film gives her character plenty of the "tough & sassy eye-rolling mama" tropes to wade through.Rowena's attorney brother Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie) is set up as a kind of Johnnie Cochran stand-in, with racial-bait ideology at the forefront of his mind.The granddaughter Eloise is written as very precocious for her age; surprisingly, any "deeper insight" as to her feelings about her father suddenly coming back to her life are not revealed. I was halfway expecting a segment where she is allowed to speak in court but, it doesn't happen. Curiously, Rowena's gay daughter and family are introduced in a matter-of-fact way (perhaps an oblique commentary that Rowena is not homophobic), but the daughter's take on these issues aren't dealt with at all; she just kind of stays in the background. (I'd have to see the film again to even be sure which one was the daughter, and which was the partner. They're THAT much in the background.) Elliot can apparently go on as many benders as he wants, but the drinking is just seen as "a little problem", that Elliot is "addicted to anger" and not "full blown" alcoholism. It seems to sidestep taking the issue seriously.Duvan, an African immigrant of nondescript nationality (except that his hometown was war-torn) serves as an "alternative black" in Elliot's life. He's given a kind of "model minority" backstory in his college-student status, prolific paper-writing and multiple-language fluency. He's quite visibly nervous in his first visit (albeit an impromptu one) with the Jeffers family. The family treats him with respect, though no one seems curious at all as to where he's originally from. In another kind of film, someone in Rowena's family might have made fun of his accent on his first visit. But the glaring uncuriosity concerning Duvan came across as a little disingenuous.We see nothing of Elliot's blood relatives or any in-laws via his wife's family. Seemingly nobody of note at the funeral/wake, just, nothing. Do any of them know or care about Elliot/Eloise? Maybe this would have complicated the balance of characters, but anyway..The film resolves itself in a somewhat surprising way. The narrative is flawed, but well-meaning. It is tolerable for a second watching.

Continuing my plan to watch every movie in Kevin Costner's filmography in order, I come to his final movie of 2014 black or white. Kevin Coaster certainly wasn't resting in his laurels in 2013/14. For the first time in his career, 2014 saw him release 4 movies in a year. Plot In A Paragraph: A grieving widower (Costner) with a drink problem, is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter, whom he helped raise all her life.This is a great movie that is filled with great performances. It's a tricky subject and it could easily go very wrong stepping on a lot of land mines, but it doesn't. It's an uncomfortable watch at times, but it's compelling and totally absorbing. You can tell both Costner's and Octavia Spencer's characters both love the child, but both get caught up in their own feelings a little too much. I'm surprised this didn't garner much notice upon release, and even more surprising it was released straight to DVD in the UK, in January of this year. I think that's a real shame as KC gives one of the strongest performances of his career. Because no studio would finance it. Not for the first time, KC personally financed this film himself because he was moved by Mike Binder's screenplay, and wanted to tell the story of the family.The movie credits show that this movie was dedicated to the memory of J.J. Harris, who was Kevin Costner's first talent manager and also a close friend. Harris passed away a year ago.

Review: As I hadn't heard of this movie before and Costner's previous movies haven't been that great, I wasn't really expecting much from this emotional drama but I must say, I really enjoyed it. The performances are great and the witty script is full of drama right from the get go. Kevin Costner plays Elliot Anderson, who finds out that his wife has died in an car accident, so he turns to alcohol for comfort. The following morning he hides the alcohol bottles from his mixed race granddaughter, Eloise (Jillian Estell) and he gets her ready for school. As he doesn't know her regular routine, Eloise tells him what to do but he still gets lost whilst driving her to school, because he has never been there before. When he finally drops her off, he returns home to organise the funeral arrangements with his best friend Rick (Bill Burr) and his girlfriend Fay (Gillian Jacobs). Because Elliot is drinking, Rick takes Elliot to pick up Eloise from school, we're he tells her about the tragic accident. At the funeral, Eloise's other grandmother, Rowena (Octavia Spencer), attends with her large family and talks to Elliot about Eloise living with them but he's happy with the way things are. As Elliot struggles to help Eloise with her homework, he hires a tutor, Duvan (Mpho Koaha) to help both of them and he reveals that his daughter died whilst giving birth to Eloise. Elliot then finds out that Rowena wants to sue him for custody, via her brother Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), whose a hot shot lawyer with high credentials. Elliot then pays Duvan to drive him around, because of his unhealthy drinking habit and he drives him to Rowena's house because he wants her to drop the court case. She accuses him of not wanting Eloise to know her black roots so Elliot mentions that she is going to a good school and she is living in a safe neighbourhood. He also mentions the problems that her son Reggie (Andre Holland) caused there family while he was addicted to crack, which doesn't go down to well. Jeremiah then convinces his sister to play the race card and he hires a black judge to take the case. After the initial hearing, Elliot keeps on drinking while Eloise is seeing a psychiatrist and starts to ask questions about her dad. Reggie then shows up at Elliot's office, asking for money to clear his debts in return for staying out of the proceedings, which will give Elliot a better chance of winning. He asks him to see Eloise because she has been asking for him, so she gets dressed up and waits for his arrival but he doesn't turn up. After another night hitting the bottle, Rowena's family turn up at Elliot's house to go swimming and Reggie sits outside, nervous to join them. Because Reggie didn't see Eloise the night before, Elliot confronts Reggie and he tells him a few home truths. Reggie then spends some time with his daughter and Elliot offers him $25,000 to get clean, which he takes whilst saying that he is off the drugs. Back in the courtroom, Reggie tells the judge that Elliot bribed him with the cash and later on that night, Reggie takes Eloise from Elliot's house. When the maid calls Elliot to tell him about the ordeal, he rushes to Rowena's to see Eloise playing the piano during a musical gathering and he can see Reggie smoking and drinking across the road. After a violent confrontation, he warns him to stay away from Eloise and he tells Rowena the true reason why he gave him the money. Back at court, Duvan tells the judge about Elliot's drinking and Reggie says his rehearsed lines. When Elliot takes the stand, he talks about the problems that he had with Reggie in the past and he's questioned about the time he will be able to spend with Eloise, when he goes back to work. Later on that night, Reggie turns up at Elliot's house, asking for more money and he pulls a knife on Elliot, which leads to a fight. After falling into the pool with a head injury, Reggie goes upstairs to get Eloise. He then sees pictures that Eloise has drawn of him and her grandparents and he sees some old pictures of her mum, which brings him back to his senses. He then goes back to the pool and saves Elliot's life, whilst constantly apologising for the way he treated Elliot's daughter. A week later, Reggie admits that he isn't ready to be a father and that he has to go away to get himself together so Elliot doesn't mention the alteration at his house. Rowena admits that Elliot has Eloise's best interest at heart so she also drops her charges. After a while, Elliot drops Eloise at Rowena's house because he needs a couple of weeks to get himself together but he still wants Duvan to tutor her and take her to school. A warm hearted film which covers some delicate matters! I personally didn't want the film to end and I found the chemistry between Costner and Eloise, touching. I'm glad to see that the movie made a profit because it really did deserve it. Great Watch!Round-Up: This movie was directed by Mike Binder who brought you Indian Summer, the awful Blankman, the Upside of Anger and Reign Over Me, which I really enjoyed. He really did put together a great film and he got the most out of the actors, so I have to give credit when it's due. Budget: $9million Worldwide Gross: $21.5millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their dramatic movies starring Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Jillian Estell, Anthony Mackie and Gillian Jacobs and Jennifer Ehle. 7/10

For some reason & it's been that way for awhile I always get excited for Kevin Costner films, three days to kill, no way out (old movie I know) but this one I knew I should'be pass on from start to finish it became less about a black or white thing versus how everyone around the girl were idiots, her grandmother, grandfather etc even the extras annoyed me it was as they used a title to draw in people for the movie but in telling the story for the film so that way everyone can feel & understand what's going on & they super failed on it the only thing that made the movie exciting was the scene where Costner's character had that speech in the courtroom I said now only if he was more like that in the film he would'be been more enjoyable kind of like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino but wishful thinking horrible film even the little girl was annoying my god I'm gonna go watch something good to get this bad movie taste out of my mouth