Starring Oli "Power" Grant, Ben Stiller, Claudia Schiffer, Raekwon, Jared Leto, Mike Tyson, Allan Houston, Bijou Phillips, Gaby Hoffman, Brooke Shields, Robert Downey Jr., Kim Matulova, Elijah Wood, Eddie Kaye Thomas, William Lee Scott, Joe Pantoliano, Scott Caan, Marla Maples, Stacy Edwards. Directed by James Toback. Charlie (Phillips) and her friend (Matulova) are rich, slightly bored white kids who like to act black. They are currently having a threesome with gangsta rapper Rich (Power), Charlie cheating on her boyfriend (Wood). Their friend Marty (Thomas) is the son of New York City District Attorney (Pantaliano), whose other son Will (Scott) is a foot-soldier doing Rich's dirty work. Rich is working on getting a record deal going, with his partner Cigar (Raekwon). Rich lives in a swanky, upscale loft with his crew and hangers-on. Childhood friend Dean (Houston) is an exceptional basketball player who is approached by a mysterious gambler Mark Clear (Stiller) who offers to pay him $50000 to throw a high school game. He's tempted. Dean's girlfriend (Schiffer) is a grad student writing thesis papers on relationships between black and white people, and when Dean asks her about it, she's not mad or shocked, but won't give him any advice. Arriving in town is Sam Donager (Shields), a former rich kid with her husband Terry (Downey Jr.), here to film a documentary about white youth adopting black culture. Charlie and her friends volunteer and take her around town, introducing her to Rich, Method Man, Mike Tyson, and The Wall symbolizing the downtrodden in the inner-city. It turns out Clear is a NYPD cop, and he's going to arrest Dean unless he turns on Rich. And Dean's girlfriend is no help to him either - she tells his predicament to Rich. Soon several characters are forced to make big choices about what is really important to them - loyalty, money, family and personal freedom. Filmed in New York City in pseudo-documentary fashion, Black And White is a scenario cooked up by director Toback with no script. The actors were left to improvise their dialogue for each situation they were put in. Many of them are musicians and athletes, not actors at all. And the surprising thing is it works very, very well. The plot is cohesive, and like a Robert Altman film nicely ties the seemingly unconnected stories together into a whole. The film examines how hip hop has successfully permeated mainstream urban culture, and how white kids want to emulate black fashion, language and lifestyle. In an early scene, a high school teacher (Leto) asks his kids about how black culture has influenced them. Two of the privileged white students suggest they want to experience what it's like to be black, but then a black student says all her friends are either studying hard to get out the ghetto or doing the gangsta rapper thing to make enough money to leave. It seems the grass is always greener on the other side, and neither black or white kids are happy with what their lives are. But the film goes further, showing how people in our society have more and more choices, but don't have a clue what they want, or who they are. For example, Charlie even knows and says she's probably just going through a phase in her being-black adopted lifestyle, but she just wants the experience, and possibly a way of pissing off her fastidious, control-freak father. Terry is married to Sam, and he's openly gay. She knows but doesn't seem to be all that concerned, treating it as just a little annoyance to be ignored. Dean asks his girlfriend whether he should take the bribe, but she refuses to dissuade him from it or give her opinion - she just says be true to himself, whatever that means. Rich says he has no idea why all these beautiful white girls throw themselves at him, but he's not going to say no, even though his talented girlfriend would hit the roof if she found out. The film reminded me a bit of an older version of Kids, where valueless kids smoke up, have sex and deeply hurt and betray other people without feelings of remorse or regret, drifting from situation to situation without any moral compass to guide them. Actors are often cast against type, with consistently excellent results that feel authenitc. Best of the bunch is Robert Downey Jr., playing Terry with a very funny, blase indifference that infuses the film with it's only sense of comedy. Power beautifully captures the ultra-cool gangsta persona, drifting from one activity to the next with little emotion or feeling. Shields is quite solid as the braided, lip-ringed documentary filmaker eager to get into the black world. Singer Phillips, daughter of Mama's and Papa's John Phillips is perfect as the wannabee-black teenager who will say and do anything to have what she wants. And Schiffer is surprisingly chilling as the calculating beauty who can't abide weakness in other people's characters, and will stab them in the back if she smells it. Tyson, Maples, Hoffman and Leto nicely acquite themselves outside of their element. Black and White is an insightful and entertaining look into urban culture and values, and well worth seeing. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page