Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Black and White

Play trailer Poster for Black and White R Released Apr 5, 2000 1h 38m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
39% Tomatometer 83 Reviews 29% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Rich Bower (Power) is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven (Gaby Hoffman) and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager (Brooke Shields), who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry (Robert Downey Jr.). But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.
Watch on Fandango at Home Rent Now

Where to Watch

Black and White

Black and White

What to Know

Critics Consensus

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.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (83) Critics Reviews
Susan Stark Detroit News Rated: 2/4 Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 3/5 Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Todd McCarthy Variety As lively and amusing as the film is in some ways, it does set up expectations at the outset that are never really delivered upon. Jun 17, 2008 Full Review Justin Brown Medium Popcorn I never want to see this movie ever again. This is terrible. How dare we subject ourselves to this... Rated: 1/5 May 21, 2021 Full Review Brandon Collins Medium Popcorn This is absolutely wild. So problematic and a mess of epic proportions... Rated: 1/5 May 21, 2021 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: C Jan 17, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (106) audience reviews
Claudio O The most disgusting and gross movie I have ever seen. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 12/12/24 Full Review Juan R A boring and disjointed film. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/24/24 Full Review Audience Member this film is, at best, homophobic and at worst an amazing waste of money.Incredible someone funded this trash. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member I love Bijou Phillips🥰 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I gave this movie 2 stars kinda didn't want to though, this movie kinda reminded me of the movie Kids, but a adult version. Brooke Shields with cornrows, braids that was interesting and the parts with Mike Tyson and Rob. Downy Jr. was all off the cuff so it was kinda funny to find that out and watch that part. Gritty on the street type movie about different people and the way they live Brooke Shields plays a woman filming different people, small talk kinda slow would I would probably not watch this one again. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Black and White doesn’t even hold together as a proper movie. It is like a series of vignettes that happen to features some of the same characters along the way. There is an attempt at a few little storylines, but most of it is scattered, and doesn’t have any flow at all. I despise that lack of focus and purpose, even in well-crafted movies, and this is far from well-crafted. It doesn’t properly take a stand on anything, and might be downright destructive in the way it presents its views. The theme is focused on the differences between white culture and black culture, and it includes a handful of white people who desire to cross the dividing line and either observe or be integrated into the black culture. The problem is that this movie seems to think that every stereotype about black men is accurate. All the black men are destructive, unfaithful, corrupting people who indulge in every vice and try to take down the poor misguided white people with them. It is so shocking that Black & White takes such a bold stand against an entire race, this movie kind of made my skin crawl. It approached some similar things with homosexuality, but it didn’t give the gay character enough screen-time to fully exploit him. I think it’s safe to say that I don’t think anyone should ever sit through Black & White, and those who made it should probably be a little ashamed. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/16/18 Full Review Read all reviews
Black and White

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

James Toback

Director

Scott Caan

Scotty

Robert Downey Jr.

Terry

Stacy Edwards

Sheila King

Allan Houston

Dean Carter

Gaby Hoffmann

Raven

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
High Art 76% 77% High Art Watchlist Holiday Heart 67% 92% Holiday Heart Watchlist Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 51% 65% Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Watchlist A Home at the End of the World 50% 67% A Home at the End of the World Watchlist The Hanging Garden 94% 72% The Hanging Garden Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All Black and White photos

Black and White

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Rich Bower (Power) is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven (Gaby Hoffman) and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager (Brooke Shields), who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry (Robert Downey Jr.). But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.
Director
James Toback
Producer
Ron Rotholz, Michael Mailer
Screenwriter
James Toback
Distributor
Screen Gems
Production Co
Palm Pictures, Bigel/Mailer Films
Rating
R (Language|Drug Use|Strong Sexuality|Violence)
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 5, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.2M
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, DTS, SDDS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Most Popular at Home Now