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The Movie:
I think it's safe to say that director James Toback is not a friend of the MPAA. After coming into controversy with his originally NC-17 rated "Two Girls and a Guy", he found the MPAA back on him with "Black and White", a film about white teens trying to enter the hip-hop community and black and white cultures coming together in general. In the trailers and posters and other materials, that's what the film was about. The film goes over more ground and more plot than that, but it all comes around to the idea of who you are and what do you want to be and why.
While the film itself talks about "mixing it up" that's what the film completely seems to be. The mainly improved picture seems to seed the situation and then let the actors take it from there. There is a thread running through the film that seems to be the main plot, involving a corrupt cop trying to throw a basketball game and more, but the rest of the film seems to be more about using improv skills to make scenes impressive on their own.
There's a whole legion of actors and characters that are thrown together with New York as the backdrop. A number of younger kids - played by Bijou Phllips, Elijah Wood, Gaby Hoffman and others; a documentary filmmaker(Brooke Shields) and her husband(Robert Downey, Jr.), a New York DA("Bound"'s Joe Pantoliano), a rap music star(Power) and a number of additional stars, including a nicely acted little cameo from "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner. It's very interesting how Toback throws all these people together and has their situations bounce off one another's.
It's unfortunate though, that not all of the actors work. Phillips, of course, is a newer actor and although she's not always "polished", I like her intensity. She has a confidence and presence that, with more roles and experience, might have her grow into a strong actress. On the other hand, a different hairstyle doesn't help Brooke Shields dissapear into her role, either. Ben Stiller does fairly well with a more dramatic role than he's usually playing. The actors who really get the film's improv style right are the most natural and most interesting. NBA star Alan Houston's performance is particularly good for a first-time actor, and if he wants to persue an acting career, he should. Many of the hip-hop stars also turn in good performances, as well.
"Black and White" tries to explore a lot of things, but I think it's most successful when it's exploring and bouncing characters off each other to see what happens in these improv situations. When it goes for a structure and plot, it doesn't work as well because it doesn't give itself the time to fully look at these situations, and the pieces that form the plot aren't as entertaining.
In conclusion, "Black and White" is a moderately interesting experiment. It's always refreshing when the a film moves away from the traditional structure, but these films can have their own flaws as well, and "Black and White" occasionally has them appear in its varied cast and plot. The difference here is that flaws in a more experimental film like this one can be just as interesting to watch as some of the more positive elements.
The DVD
VIDEO: As wild a film as "Black and White" sometimes is in content, it's also just as wild in its look and feel. This is cinematographer David Ferra's first film, and he gives it a very interesting look, with a yellow-ish tint to some of the scenes and with others, the crisp, clear look of the film makes for some nice looking shots, with great detail. There are also some great compositions in the 2.35:1 frame, which works well with this character-driven drama.
I wasn't able to see the film in theaters, so I'm not sure if the look and tone was exactly the same, but the highly saturated colors and tone look nicely presented here. Sharpness is impressively good throughout the film, and detail is excellent as well. Images during many of the daylight shots are very well rendered.
The element that really takes this above and beyond the average looking presentation is the near-complete lack of the usual problems that we see sometimes on DVD. There is no pixelation, absolutely no problems on the print used with no marks or scratches and the only thing I noticed was a trace of shimmering or two.
Again, good work from the studio that's definitely an above-average presentation.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 audio has no problems, but isn't remarkable, either. The hip-hop soundtrack is what really provides energy to the film from the audio, and there is some strong bass to the beats. Surrounds are used not heavily, but are able to come up with some ambient sounds that give the film a sense of space. The film's dialogue is clear and natural, sounding easily heard. The soundtrack gets the job done.
MENUS:: The main menu is nicely animated with the music from the film in the background. Sub-menus aren't animated, but are nicely done with film-themed images.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director James Toback. With all of the controversy that has surrounded the director through not only this film but his previous one ("Two Girls and a Guy") you'd think that he'd offer quite the agressive commentary. Well, not exactly. In fact, Toback doesn't have much energy during the proceedings, but that doesn't take away in this case from the information he's able to offer, which is pretty interesting.
He mainly talks about the film's improv situations and once or twice talks about the problems the film had with the ratings board. There is also a lot of discussion with working with the film's actors and how they went about improving their dialogue. There are very few pauses during the discussion and although there's not a lot of energy to it, those who are interested in the film will find the commentary has a lot to offer.
James Toback's Video Diary: Mainly a series of interviews with the director where he talks about his inspirations and ideas behind the film, and also, his way of going about giving the improv nature of the film a structure.
Trailers: Trailers for "Blue Streak", "Black and White" and "Bad Boys".
Deleted Scenes: 2 deleted scenes, one which has a number of different takes.
Music Videos: "It's Not A Game", by American Cream Team featuring Raekwon and "Year 2000" by Xzibit featuring Jonathan Davis.
Also: Talent Files and isolated score in 5.1.
Final Thoughts: "Black and White" is a risky, original, and sometimes entertaining experiment. The film is definitely not for everyone, but I think that it's definitely a film worth a look for its performances and style, where the feeling of reality to it makes even some things that don't work interesting.
Film Grade
The Film B-
DVD Grades
Video 93/A = (372/400 possible points)
Audio: 87/B = (348/400 possible points)
Extras: 84/B = (252/300 possible points)
Menus: 84/B = (168/200 possible points)
Value: 84/B = (252/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1392/1600
DVD GRADE:B/87%
FILM GRADE: B-
DVD GRADE: B
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