Writer director Mike Binder has created one of more sensitive films dealing with racial issues yet to be made. He has produced a story, directed it with such sensitivity with an outstanding cast that it absolutely serves not only every ward the film industry can give but also the recognition of everyone working for equal rights. The script is brilliant, rich in humor and pathos, and very, very intelligent.The synopsis is too brief but offers the flavor of the film: 'BLACK OR WHITE is the story of a grandfather Elliot (Kevin Costner) who when his wife Carol (Jennifer Ehle) is killed in an automobile accident is suddenly left to care for his beloved granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell) – a child born to their daughter impregnated at age 17 by an African American junkie Reggie (André Holland): the daughter dies in childbirth and who died in childbirth. When her paternal grandmother Rowena (Octavia Spencer) seeks custody with the help of her brother Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), the little girl is torn between two families who love her deeply. With the best intentions at heart, both families fight for what they feel is right and are soon forced to confront their true feelings about race, forgiveness, and understanding. Anchored by an all-star cast and based on real events, the movie is a look at two seemingly different worlds, in which nothing is as simple as black or white.'In addition to the brilliant cast listed above there are cameos by some rather extraordinary actors – Paula Newsome (a gifted and rising star who plays the judge), Mpho Koaho who plays Eloise's tutor, and Joe Chrest – Elliot's attorney partner and best friend.The film belongs to Costner, Spencer and Estell – and it could not be in stronger hands. Highly Recommended.

As movie genres go, the race-based social drama has always been a bit of a minefield for those willing to try to tiptoe their way across it. The risks are many. Either you wind up indulging in offensive stereotypes, or you go so overboard in the opposite direction that you transform some of the uglier realities of life into a sugarcoated pill largely designed to make the audience feel better about themselves and the world around them.I'm here to report that "Black or White," written and directed by Mike Binder, makes it through the minefield largely intact, but there are definitely a few minor explosions along the way. Based loosely on a true story, the movie features Kevin Costner as a recently widowed grandfather of a mixed-race child (Jillian Estell) whom he and his late wife raised as their own when their daughter died in childbirth. Now that he's on his own, some interested parties are beginning to question whether Elliot is truly fit to parent the child full-time.Elliot's main challenger in this regard is Eloise's paternal grandmother, Rowena Jeffers (Octavia Spencer), a successful small business woman with a large and thriving family, the sole exception being Reggie (Andre Holland), the girl's father, who is both a crack addict and a habitual lawbreaker. However, Elliot has his own trouble with addiction, in his case alcohol, which pretty much neutralizes his argument against having Reggie in little Eloise's life.Despite a certain slickness in its execution, "Black or White" achieves some truth by not picking sides, by allowing all the concerned parties to make their case without undue favoritism or judgment. Yet, in scope and execution. the movie ultimately feels too "small" for the subject it's attempting to tackle, a condition highlighted by the film's unfortunate slide into cheap melodrama towards the end."Black or White" is ultimately a minor addition to the long list of movies that have explored race relations lo these many decades, but its evenhandedness and sincerity make it one of the good ones.

It took me 24 hours after viewing to process why I didn't like this film.  First the positives:  the actors, Kevin Costner and Andre Holland who plays Grandma Wewe's son Reggie deliver stellar performances.  Octavia Spencer did the best she could with what she had to work with.  Also, kudos for trying to make the black family a likable and respectable one.  The negative:  All the supporting cast outside of Costner's Elliot are one dimensional.  At first glance one would think the film goes out of its way to avoid black stereotypes to the point that this family borders on unbelievable.  For example, Grandma has 6 successful businesses and real estate holdings, yet she lives in a questionable neighborhood across the street from a crack house.  She's raising several other grands, nephews and nieces which implies that there was something seriously wrong with the adult members of her family.  (Where are they, in prison?)  And that family jam session!  What kind of black family is this?  By trying too hard to paint a picture of a loving, extended family, the movie successfully masks old familiar stereotypes:  Hard working no-nonsense matriarch, absent man, effed-up male spawn; but hey, they gotta lotta love, musical ability and good times to give even if they can't provide the safety, comfort, and stability that a child needs to be successful.  And oh yeah, maids are now Hispanic.  If I were white, this movie would reinforce for me the common misconceptions whites have about black people: 1) They make everything about race even when it's clearly not, which they are more concerned with than the plight of their own communities and their own families' failings. 2) They have nothing but excuses for lack of achievement:  compare 30 year old high-school-dropout-can't-spell-his-own-daughter's-name native son Reggie, to 19 year old entrepreneurial-polyglot-pianist-immigrant Duvan. 3) No amount of money that you give them will fix the problems they themselves create. 4) White fathers still need to protect their vulnerable daughters from potential permanent ruin from the lowest elements of black America--political correctness about race be dammed.Had the two families been on equal economic, educational, and social footing, there might actually be a story worth telling, one that at the very least could create a meaningful conversation about race or perhaps transcend it.  However, this movie isn't a conversation about race but a soliloquy, eerily reminiscent of the one begun 100 years ago in the premiere of The Birth of a Nation.

'BLACK OR WHITE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)Race relations drama flick, written and directed by Mike Binder and starring Kevin Costner. Costner also costarred in the 2005 comedy drama film 'THE UPSIDE OF ANGER', which Binder also wrote and directed; he was so passionate about Binder's screenplay, for 'BLACK OR WHITE', that he financed it's $9 million budget, himself. It tells the story of a recently widowed alcoholic, who becomes involved in a bitter custody battle for his granddaughter, who's half black, with her grandmother (who's black). The movie costars Octavia Spencer, Jillian Estell, Anthony Mackie, Andre Holland and Bill Burr. The film raises some interesting questions about race relations, but it fails to answer them fully.The movie opens with Elliot Anderson (Costner) finding out that his wife, Carol (Jennifer Ehle), died in a car accident. He goes home and drinks himself to sleep, and then struggles to tell his granddaughter, Eloise (Estell), about her grandmother's death, the next day. It turns out that Elliot and Carol raised Eloise, since her birth; when her mother died during the delivery. Eloise's father, Reggie (Holland), was an abusive crack addict, who was never there for her. Now that Carol's gone, Reggie's mother, Rowena (Spencer), thinks that Elliot is unfit to raise Eloise alone, and she wants joint custody. Elliot refuses, and a viscous court battle ensues.The movie is well made, and Costner gives a great leading man performance in it. It's dramatic, emotional and it also has a lot to say about race relations; as well as substance abuse. The movie never really answers the thought provoking questions it asks though (about racial prejudice or drug and alcohol addiction). It addresses the issues in a seemingly realistic way, for the most part (although some of the characters seem a bit too much like stereotypes), but it doesn't really draw any satisfying conclusions to them. Things get wrapped up, but not in a way that really teaches the viewer anything about the important issues, it brings up. The film is ambitious though, and it has a lot of heart.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/rxD9sln4Qkg