Black, White and Blues

PG-13

Released Aug 26, 2011

1h 31m

Drama

List

57%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

58%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A stranger (Michael Clarke Duncan) has personal reasons for helping a would-be musician (Morgan Simpson) overcome his stage fright and get his career back on track.

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Audience Member

good road trip[ mixed with music pic.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

While the music is fun, and Duncan is of course a great presence, the story is rather predictable -- and of course the road trip from Texas to Alabama shows very little actual sights of this trip.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Really enjoyed this movie...blues lovers??? You'll want to see this one!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

good story,a little slow getting there ....

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It tries too hard to do too much with so little. It wants to talk about spirituality, but it seems afraid to really do so. Mixing talk of AA's 'higher power' with subliminal Christian verbiage ends up diluting and confusing things. The result is a higher power credited with creating the universe and therefore our sexual instincts and therefore 'down with' casual sex. There's a huge emphasis on forgiveness, without any real context for it. What higher power insists on forgiveness after first providing it? Redemption from what, by whom? Why is sacrifice for anyone else worth it? This film seems to want to take all of the powerful benefits of Christianity and Scripture while gutting it of any of the specifics, anything that might crimp our style or otherwise pin us down. As such, the film is hollow because the theology it seeks to draw from has been hollowed out. And has Hollywood so quickly forgotten the disaster of "Crossroads" nearly 25 years ago? Why is it that films about the blues always feature talentless white guys who are supposed to be musical phenoms, while the genuine geniuses are relegated to barely credited backup music scenes? Frustrating!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

After I watched the trailers, I knew I had to see this movie. I had not yet seen a Mario Van Peebles directed movie I liked until this one. It helped that supporting actors Michael Clarke Duncan, who has 90 movies under his belt, and Tom Skerritt who has 150 movies under his belt, have face recognition. As for Morgan Simpson, who has the lead in this movie, he was completely unknown to me but I was sold on his performance. He wrote the story so he had the benefit of knowing exactly what his character was suppose to feel and why. The story has a few weak spots but they do not deter the viewer from keeping focused on all the good points. To use an expression in the film, Duncan delivers some fortune cookie wisdom, but it is no less valuable wisdom as far as I was concerned. Even the music delivers wisdom to those who pay attention. The music in the movie is really good, unless you hate the blues and country styles (especially the blues). The story has in the first 75% to 80% of the movie a well planned set-up for a surprise you don't see coming and which may bring tears to some viewers with kinder hearts. Thankfully, Skerritt's character made a point in the movie that you need to cry sometimes to purge the sadness that will otherwise weigh you down and it feels better after. We all know that to be true.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

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Mario Van Peebles

Director

Michael Clarke Duncan

Augy

Morgan Simpson

Jefferson Bailey

Kiele Sanchez

Hannah

Tom Skerritt

Santa

Taryn Manning

Jackie

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Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

Jefferson has nowhere to go but up -- and eventually he gets there (note the title) -- but, boy, does the getting there take its sweet time.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 26, 2011

Full Review

Joe Leydon

Variety

A lightly enjoyable road pic about a circuitous road to redemption, Black, White and Blues offers simple, down-home pleasures while spinning an undeniably familiar but emotionally satisfying tale.

Aug 3, 2011

Full Review

Duane Byrge

Hollywood Reporter

Battling-buddy road movie carries viewers on an entertaining ride into blues country.

Aug 3, 2011

Full Review

Mike Scott

Times-Picayune

a sterilized and predictable version of life that plays out like a very special movie of the week -- albeit one with a nice soundtrack.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 23, 2011

Full Review

Neil Pond

American Profile

Hope and healing wait at the end of a big-hearted musical road trip.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 8, 2011

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

'Brother knew how to tell a story,' Michael Clarke Duncan says, admiringly, of Shakespeare. The same can't exactly be said of this earnest calling-card indie.

Rated: 1.5/4

Aug 29, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

A stranger (Michael Clarke Duncan) has personal reasons for helping a would-be musician (Morgan Simpson) overcome his stage fright and get his career back on track.

Director: Mario Van Peebles
Producer: John Bartoletta, Charlie Poe
Screenwriter: George Richards, Morgan Simpson
Distributor: Freestyle Releasing
Production Co: Heavy Duty Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Language|Some Violence|Sexual Material)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 26, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $27.0K
Runtime: 1h 31m

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