“Black or White” – Relativity(NEW YORK) — Inspired by actual events, Black or White stars Kevin Costner as wealthy lawyer Elliot Anderson. When we first meet him, he’s waiting in a hospital, alone, having just found out his wife was killed in a car accident. He is simply a broken man. Now he has to go home and live with the news for the night before he tells his young granddaughter, Eloise (Jillian Estell).
We soon learn that Elliot and his wife had been raising Eloise, whose father was African-American, because her mother, their daughter, died during childbirth. Following the funeral, we meet Eloise’s other grandmother, Rowena (Octavia Spencer), who subtly suggests that maybe it will be best if Eloise moves to South Central Los Angeles to live with her and her expansive family. Rowena is a self-made woman who owns six businesses, while Elliot’s a struggling alcoholic who has now experienced more than enough tragedy for one lifetime.
If circumstances had been different, Elliot might be willing to let Rowena have at least joint custody of Eloise. But there’s a problem, at least as far as Elliot is concerned. Reggie (Andre Holland), Eloise’s biological father, is a drug addict, and Elliot blames him for the death of his daughter. When Rowena tries to contact Elliot about a custody arrangement, he refuses to return her calls. That’s when Rowena gets her brother, Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie) involved. Jeremiah is a successful litigator who decides to use a strategy Rowena isn’t comfortable with: he wants to paint Elliot as a racist.
This is one of Costner’s more powerful performances. Spencer, Mackie and comedian Bill Burr are also terrific, but they’re overshadowed by a sloppy, meandering script that attempts to force unnecessary humor into the story. Director Mike Binder also gets a little too cute with some of the courtroom scenes, robbing the moments of gravitas – treating Black or White more like My Cousin Vinny than as a movie that should’ve been a powerful reflection of who we are as a society, and our ability, as human beings, to forgive.
Two-and-a-half out of five stars.
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