Click to read the article
Comment
10/18/08
Black and White (1999)
38
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:78
Fresh:30
Rotten:48
Average Rating:4.7/10
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.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: With Black and White, writer-director James Toback (Fingers, Two Girls and a Guy) confronts the topic of race head on--most specifically, the influence of black urban hip-hop culture on white... [More]
Starring: Robert Downey, Bijou Phillips, Allan Houston, Brooke Shields
Director: James Toback
Get This Movie
Reviews for Black and White
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/18/08
Click to read the article
10/18/08
Click to read the article
10/18/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/18/08
Top Critic... Black and White is sort of a mess, but it's the kind of worthy, ambitious mess that a director like Godard might make.
08/31/08
A daring film that has some sloppy flaws but is far better than Toback's previous effort, the dismal Two Girls and a Guy.
08/07/08
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.
06/17/08
Top CriticIt looks like a mess -- if one stuffed with incident, issues and intrigue.
06/24/06
Top CriticJames Toback's Black and White is meant to be an incendiary movie, but it's really only just OK.
05/26/06
The best thing I have seen come from director Toback.
04/09/05
Mostly watchable and well-acted, but neither as engaging nor as exciting as it needs to be.
03/16/04
While Toback certainly makes a game effort to study the infiltration of hip-hop into the mainstream, his inability to choose what ground to cover ultimately results in an episodic hotch-potch.
01/13/04
Short bursts of captivating information are strung together in a series of quick-cutting vignettes, alternately hitting their mark and falling disastrously flat.
05/14/03
The unfocused story travels through so many subplots that none of the individual stories are ever explored fully enough to pay off.
12/08/02
Perhaps you remember "The Pick-Up Artist," the movie that single-handedly killed Molly Ringwald's career? That was another Toback production. "Black and White," for all its arty pretensions and supposed shock value, doesn't break his losing streak.
06/21/02
It doesn't try to spell out all aspects of the issue or arrive at any particular point. Toback presents specific characters dealing with specific problems and, through their stories, somehow manages to take the temperature of the times.
06/18/02
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/19/02
Top CriticThis movie doesn't provide the luxury of detachment; it forces us to sort out the confusing racial dramas of contemporary America, and it's far more involving because it has no narrator telling us what to feel.
01/09/02
This lively mess proves that when Toback loses his head, he does it with style.
05/10/01
Top CriticLatest News for Black and White
November 10, 2005:
Critical Consensus: "Zathura"'s Got Game, "Get Rich" Dies Tryin'
This week's wide releases raise a number of questions. Is "Zathura" a game worth playing? Is 50 Cent's movie debut, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," the cinematic... More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek DVD Exclusive 
TECHLAND gives us a first look at the extras, including Leonard Nimoy's last day on set!
The New Cult Canon
AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.
New Moon Portraits
TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.
Unsexiest Men Alive
Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds