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Movies / On DVD / White Man's Burden
White Man's Burden

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White Man's Burden (1995)

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26 %
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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:8

Rotten:23

Average Rating:4.5/10

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In this acclaimed story of role reversal, John Travolta plays a blue collar man from the white minority who fights against the odds and the system when he loses his job, taking on the owner of his... In this acclaimed story of role reversal, John Travolta plays a blue collar man from the white minority who fights against the odds and the system when he loses his job, taking on the owner of his company in court. His bravery may cost him dearly. [More]

Starring: John Travolta, Harry Belafonte, Kelly Lynch, Tom Bower

Starring: John Travolta, Harry Belafonte, Kelly Lynch, Tom Bower, Margaret Avery, Andrew Lawrence, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Judith Drake, Robert Gossett, Tom Nolan, Carrie Snodgress, Thom Barry, Brian Brophy, Bert Remsen, Seth Green, Alexis Arquette

Director: Desmond Nakano

Director: Desmond Nakano

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Apr 20, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for White Man's Burden

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Surprisingly lively and entertaining.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

There isn't much of a story in White Man's Burden.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You can see the ideas behind White Man's Burden -- they just don't make it to the screen.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Watching this movie is like watching Godfrey Cambridge's racial switcheroo in 1970's Watermelon Man -- without the laughs.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Doesn't go too far beyond the basic set-up.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
08/07/04
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

No one looking for an action movie is going to choose this one. Equally obviously, no one interested in a film about racial stereotyping in America wants to sit through chase scenes.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A frustrating film with interesting ideas that never quite come together.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Were it not for John Travolta's big-hearted portrayal of an unemployed white factory worker driven to commit a desperate act, the movie would be an emotionally frozen exercise in cautious high-mindedness.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A ham-fisted, under-imagined dialectic on race relations.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

White Man's Burden was worth doing once, if it only to find out it isn't worth doing again.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A tightly constructed drama.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Una sociedad en la que existe una raza dominante y una raza oprimida, casi como ahora, con la ligera diferencia de que ahora el racismo es al revés.

Full Review Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
08/31/01
Alex Ramirez
Alex Ramirez
Cinenganos

So simple, so broad are White Man's Burden's paint strokes ... that no real lesson outside of the obviously mundane can be elicited, and that's a real shame.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

The flaws in this film are many. The dialogue verges on silly when parodying cliches that white people use to denigrate blacks. And most of the acting is just inadequate.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

It's undeniably fascinating to watch this hypothetical experiment for a while. But White Man's Burden starts to feel like an only-passable Twilight Zone episode stretched into a full-length movie.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

White Man's Burden spirals into tragedy but never into stirring drama. It stays stuck at the level of noble experiment.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
05/12/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A 'what-if' racial story that doesn't pack a punch.

Full Review Source: Cinematter | comment Comment
01/01/00
Madeleine Williams
Madeleine Williams
Cinematter

A look at color relations that's likely to be more compelling for nonurban audiences than the latest take on drug dealing and gang banging in the 'hood.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Kim Williamson
Kim Williamson
Boxoffice Magazine

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
04/07/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper
 
 
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