Black or White (film)

Black or White
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Binder
Produced by	Kevin Costner Mike Binder Todd Lewis
Written by	Mike Binder
Starring	Kevin Costner Octavia Spencer Jillian Estell Bill Burr Jennifer Ehle Andre Holland Gillian Jacobs Anthony Mackie
Music by	Terence Blanchard
Cinematography	Russ T. Alsobrook
Edited by	Roger Nygard
Production company	Sunlight Productions Treehouse Films Treehouse Productions Venture Forth
Distributed by	Relativity Media IM Global
Release dates	September 6, 2014 (2014-09-06) (TIFF) January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30) (United States)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million
Box office	$21.7 million

Black or White is a 2014 American drama film directed and written by Mike Binder. The film stars Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Gillian Jacobs, Jennifer Ehle, Anthony Mackie and Bill Burr. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on January 30, 2015.

Plot

Elliot Anderson (Kevin Costner) is widowed after a car crash leads to the death of his wife. Elliot has raised his granddaughter, Eloise, since his daughter died in childbirth. As he struggles with his grief, Elliot's world is turned upside-down when the child's black grandmother, Rowena (Octavia Spencer), demands that Eloise be brought under the care of her father, Rowena's son, Reggie (Andre Holland), a drug addict whom Elliot blames for the negligence that led to the death of his own daughter. Elliot finds himself deeply entrenched in a custody battle and will stop at nothing to keep his granddaughter from coming under the watch of her reckless father.

Cast

• Kevin Costner as Elliot Anderson
• Octavia Spencer as Rowena Jeffers
• Jillian Estell as Eloise Anderson
• Bill Burr as Rick Reynolds
• Mpho Koaho as Duvan Araga
• Anthony Mackie as Jeremiah Jeffers
• Andre Holland as Reggie Davis
• Gillian Jacobs as Fay
• Jennifer Ehle as Carol
• Paula Newsome as Judge Cummins
• Indigo as Young Nurse
• Lindsey G. Smith as Andrea
• Janeline Hayes as Dondi
• Lloyd Dillon as Rex
• Ireyon Johnson as Kristen
• Ernest Wells as Victor
• Nagelle LeBoyd as Rowena's niece

Production

On September 25, 2014, Open Road Films was in talks to acquire the US distribution rights to the film. On October 17, Relativity Media acquired the US rights to the film.

Post production

Principal photography of the film began on July 15, 2013 in New Orleans with the filming lasting for five weeks.

Release

Relativity planned to release the film in time to qualify for the Oscar race, starting with a limited release on December 3, 2014 then opening wide on January 30, 2015. The limited release was scrapped, however, in favor of an immediate wide release.

Home media

Black or White was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 5, 2015.

Reception

Box office

Black or White grossed $21.6 million in North America against a budget of $9 million.

In its opening weekend of January 30, 2015, the film made a gross of $2.3 million on Friday, $3 million on Saturday, and $986,312 on Sunday for a weekend total of $6.2 million, playing in 1,823 with a per-theater average of $3,408 and ranking #4.

Critical response

Black or White received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 39% rating, based on 87 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Black or White has more on its mind than your average family drama, but the film's approach to its thought-provoking themes too often lives down to its title." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". According to CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

External links

• Black or White at IMDb