45
Metascore
30 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger Moore“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.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerBlack and White never panders too easily to sentiments, creating characters who are riddled with flaws but likeable all the same.
- 70Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThe filmmaker and his on-screen proxies boldly go places our national discourse desperately needs to go, yet rarely does.
- 50VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasThe 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.
- 50New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickDespite 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.
- 40Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlOccasionally, the film rouses into something thoughtful, even daring.
- Black or White is a film all about matters of race that hardly matters at all.
- 30TheWrapInkoo KangTheWrapInkoo KangBy the film's end, Black or White raises only one question: Is its racial-baiting disingenuous or oblivious?
- 25The PlaylistKevin JagernauthThe PlaylistKevin JagernauthWoefully misguided, Black And White is at times painfully quaint and obtuse about contemporary issues surrounding race and class.