Black or White
Relativity Media | Release Date: January 30, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
13
Negative:
7
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJan 29, 2015
A textured and unexpectedly entertaining drama about the human toll when racial assumptions crash. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 29, 2015
Costner’s performance is filled with memorable moments. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedJan 28, 2015
Good acting and plenty to think about, but a better director than Mike Binder would have made a better film. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 27, 2015
“Selma” wasn’t the only film about race to get short shrift from Oscar voters this past year. Black or White is a frank, touching and very well-acted melodrama about child custody and cultural perceptions of “blackness” and “the race card,” and could have earned Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner fresh Oscar nominations. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinDec 2, 2014
The filmmaker and his on-screen proxies boldly go places our national discourse desperately needs to go, yet rarely does. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerSep 12, 2014
Black and White never panders too easily to sentiments, creating characters who are riddled with flaws but likeable all the same. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaFeb 2, 2015
A boldly sappy melodrama that plays on - and off - racial stereotypes. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJan 30, 2015
It's often painful, and not in a good way; it's painful because of the roads it doesn't explore, the shortcuts it takes, and the special pleading it can't stop itself from indulging in. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 29, 2015
The film is by no means perfect and its goals are undermined by a sloppy climax and conclusion but it avoids preaching while providing fodder for thought. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 29, 2015
Despite the best of intentions, a career-best performance from Kevin Costner, and outstanding work by Octavia Spencer and child actor Jillian Estell, Black or White succumbs to some of the same stereotypes it tries to dispel. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJan 30, 2015
There's a chance Black or White just might offend some, but it's more likely to get them thinking and talking. In this day and age, and given recent headlines, it's hard to ask much more from a movie. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJan 29, 2015
A racial melodrama that, until it stumbles into obvious and maudlin territory, is a thoughtful work thanks to Octavia Spencer, Anthony Mackie and especially Kevin Costner. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigJan 29, 2015
Give Binder credit for addressing racial divides even if not as profoundly as one would hope. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 29, 2015
Writer-director Mike Binder, who worked beautifully with Costner on 2005's "The Upside of Anger," finds himself on the downside of juggling stereotypes. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 29, 2015
To put it simply, people may be right and people may be wrong, but there are no right races or wrong races. A writer-director who chooses to have characters representing race and not themselves alone paints himself into a corner in which everyone in the movie absolutely must come out all right. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie MerryJan 29, 2015
The performances are fantastic across the board, with Costner acting in his trademark low-key naturalistic style and Spencer as the picture of no-nonsense maternal love. But their efforts can’t make up for overly simplified characters, not to mention melodramatic exchanges that sound exactly like written dialogue. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJan 29, 2015
Mike Binder’s steady, well-intentioned exploration of the racial tensions affecting two branches of a Southern California family, is notable for what it doesn’t try to do. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickJan 28, 2015
Despite excellent performances by Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer and other cast members, Mike Binder’s racially tinged custody battle drama Black or White never achieves much in the way of dramatic credibility. Read full review
50
VarietyScott FoundasSep 12, 2014
The good news is that Kevin Costner does some of the finest, most deeply felt work of his career as a widower lawyer fighting for custody of his biracial granddaughter in Mike Binder’s Black and White. The bad news is that this well-intentioned family drama never quite shakes free from its didactic, movie-of-the-week dramaturgy and a hand-holding approach to race-relations. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jan 29, 2015
Tempting though it might be to celebrate any earnest, good-faith attempt to talk about race in America, it’s clear that the creator of Mind Of The Married Man was not the right one to do the talking. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghJan 29, 2015
Black or White is more remarkable for what it isn't than for what it is. For example, it isn't ripe with drama. It isn't a thoughtful exploration of racial identity in America. It isn't a compelling look at judicial bias and class conflict. It is, instead, a movie that's every bit as oversimplified and obvious as its title. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleWilliam GossJan 28, 2015
Black or White is a film all about matters of race that hardly matters at all. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJan 27, 2015
Occasionally, the film rouses into something thoughtful, even daring. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEric HendersonJan 30, 2015
Kevin Costner scowls and darts around the dubious thin line between "racism" and un-sugarcoated "truthfulness" that only anti-P.C. wingnuts actually believe exists. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 29, 2015
Black or White may not be racist, exactly, but it patronizes its African-American characters up, down and sideways, and audiences of every ethnicity, background, hue and predilection can find something to dislike. Read full review
30
The DissolveScott TobiasJan 29, 2015
The trouble with Black Or White is that it feels reverse-engineered, as if Binder wanted to deliver one big statement about race, and rigged an entire movie to make that possible. Read full review
30
TheWrapInkoo KangDec 4, 2014
By the film's end, Black or White raises only one question: Is its racial-baiting disingenuous or oblivious? Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJan 29, 2015
The only thing Black or White adds to the discussion of race relations is another one-sided argument. Read full review
25
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthSep 12, 2014
Woefully misguided, Black And White is at times painfully quaint and obtuse about contemporary issues surrounding race and class. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 29, 2015
Talk about tin ears. Black or White comes off as the product of clouded eyes, sour stomachs and addled brains. Read full review
More From This Movie

45 Critic Reviews

7.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL