What happens when you mix it up?
Features: DVD, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Surround Sound, Subtitled
A provocative exploration of race, sex and hip hop, Black and White is the latest film from acclaimed writer/director James Toback. Based on his original screenplay and set in his hometown of New York City, the story follows a group of white, privileged New York City teens and their reckless fascination with uptown hip-hop culture.
When high school hipster Charlie (Bijou Phillips) and her friends start hanging out with Harlem's aspiring rap artist Rich Bower (Power) and his group, the American Cream Team, each faction starts to ponder the other's true motivation. Fascinated by this collision of cultures, documentary filmmaker and former rich girl herself Sam Donager (Brooke Shields) attempts to capture the phenomenon on camera with the help of her intriguingly unhinged husband Terry (Robert Downey Jr.).
Meanwhile, NYPD detective Mark Clear (Ben Stiller) wants revenge on his heartless ex-girlfriend Greta (Claudia Schiffer), who dumped him for Dean (Allan Houston), a black star basketball player and friend of Rich Bower. Before long, everyone wants something from someone else. As the chain of casual acquaintance comes full circle, worlds collide -- black and white, wealthy and wanting, uptown and downtown -- until it becomes clear that nobody is really who they seem to be.
Editor's Note
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 America. Set in New York City as the 1990s wind to a close, the film is told in a broad, episodic fashion, interweaving several different story lines in order to address a multitude of ideas. In the most comedic, a white documentarian (Brooke Shields) and her gay husband (Robert Downey Jr.) follow a group of affluent white teenagers (led by Bijou Phillips) around the city as they unabashedly pursue a Staten Island hip-hop crew. As the leader of the crew, Rich Bower (the Wu-Tang Clan's Power) struggles to leave his criminal past behind and become a legitimate musician. In the most dramatic subplot, an undercover police detective (Ben Stiller) frames a talented college basketball player (Allan Houston) in order to exact an ambiguous revenge. Toback blends improvisation with tightly scripted scenes, and the result is a loose, broad essay on the state of racism at the turn of the millennium. BLACK AND WHITE features impressive performances by the all-star cast, but it is Mike Tyson who steals the film with his unforgettable cameo.
Plot Summary
Director Toback's multifaceted dramedy concerns the influence of hip-hop culture on white America. The revolving story--partly scripted, partly improvised--focuses on three separate stories that eventually converge, albeit loosely. In the first, a documentary filmmaker (Shields) follows a group of well-to-do white high school students in Manhattan as they spend time emulating their favorite hip-hop stars. In the second, a budding rapper (Wu-Tang Clan's Power) struggles to leave behind a life of crime for the record business. And in the third, a college basketball star (Houston) is bribed by a jealous police officer (Stiller) into throwing a game.
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