You could write down the "theme" of this movie on a piece of paper, put it in a bottle and throw it into the ocean, it would still get to me faster than it would if I watched the film until I "got" it. I don't get it. I don't have the slightest fucking idea what James Toback is trying to say here.

"Black and White" bored me to tears with it's one-dimensional characters, it's lackluster interwoven script and it's typical, low-budget, indie direction and editing. Worse yet, it's another one of those films that glorifies the "gangster mentality" of black urban youth and the "hip-hop" lifestyle. The black characters in the film mean nothing to me. I have no interest in them. They are not people I would want to meet in real life. They are the kind of people that just simply bring everything down to a basic, deplorable, uncivilized manner. It doesn't scare me or anger me or intimidate me. I am not a racist. It simply bores me. I could care less. You could get more intelligent conversation at any kindergarten.

One thing the film does has is an interesting cast. This is a huge ensemble gumbo with simply tons of familiar faces popping up. Robert Downey Jr., Brooke Shields, Elijah Wood, Mike Tyson, Scott Caan, Joe Pantoliano, Claudia Schiffer, Ben Stiller, Gaby Hoffman, Jared Leto, Marla Maples, and a few others were fairly easy to recognize. Of course, the film has a large number of black performers in it as well. Most of these are from the rap/hip-hop genre and, therefore, of course, I don't have the vaguest idea of who they are. Method Man, Sticky Fingaz, Power, Raekwon. (I'm guessing some of these guys are in the biz, could be wrong). Meanwhile, in addition to Toback, the director, playing a small role, Allan Houston (a basketball player), and Brett Ratner (director of "Rush Hour") all have small roles. Some of these people, like Tyson and Ratner simply play themselves, other's don't. None of them, not one, has anything interesting to say or do. One of the most annoying things in the film is watching Tyson try to improvise his way around some dialogue, since he plays himself, without appearing like a complete asshole. He fails. Worse yet, he gets to play a gaybasher in the film. Literally; He punches a gay guy. It's repulsive.

The stories flying around in the air here, and meaning next to nothing include: A white girl who wants to act black, her group of friends with a similar wont, a female documentary maker who wants to film them, her gay husband, a black gang that want to be rappers, a bunch of white Italian guys who open a club in a black neighborhood, a recording studio owner who won't give a black gang time in his studio until they arrive with a white lawyer, a black basketball player who throws a game for a pay-off, a white cop who is after a black gang member, the white girl who used to date the cop now dating the basketball player... and more. None of it, not a frame, means anything. Nothing here is new.

The worse thing about the film is watching Robert Downey Jr. namby-pamby his way through playing yet another stereotypical flitty, fey, gay guy. It's grating.

"Black and White" isn't a particularly bad movie. It just means nothing to a middle aged white guy like myself. I don't think it will mean much to young people either. But you'd have to ask one of them. Maybe they get it.

Note: This is at least the forth film to be called "Black and White" since 1913.

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