After he loses his wife in a car accident, lawyer Elliot Anderson (Kevin Costner) is left to raise his granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell) on his own. Elliot started drinking seven years earlier when his estranged 17-year-old daughter died during childbirth, and now things have gotten even worse with the loss of his wife. He loves his granddaughter very much, but still feels anger towards the girl’s father, who was a 23-year-old junkie at the time he took advantage of his daughter.

Meanwhile, Eloise’s grandmother Rowena (Octavia Spencer) wants her granddaughter to learn more about her black heritage and culture, and decides to sue for custody on behalf of her supposedly-reformed son Reggie (André Holland), who has never even met his daughter, and may not be ready to.

While Eliott gets his friend Rick (Bill Burr) and other members of his firm to represent him in the heated custody battle, Rowena hires her brother Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), who wants to make the case about race.

Both Eliott and Rowena are trying to get custody because they feel they are doing the right thing for Eloise. Eliott believes that Reggie hasn’t changed, and is still a junkie, and doesn’t want him around his granddaughter. Meanwhile, Rowena naively wants to believe that her son has cleaned up and is ready to be a father to his daughter.

Black or White is an entertaining comedy/drama. Kevin Costner gives an excellent performance, delivering both in the highly-dramatic, gut punching scenes as well as in the comedic and heart-warming moments. From the first moment they are on-screen together, you really get a sense of the love Eliott has for his granddaughter. But throughout the film, we see Elliott’s struggle to forgive and let go, and how his drinking problem gets so bad that even Eloise calls him out on it. While he’s quick to point out Reggie’s shortcomings and addictions, Eliott cannot admit to his own.

Octavia Spencer also gives a delightful performance as grandma Wee Wee. While she does have some dramatic scenes, her character provides a lot of comic relief, especially when Rowena blurts out things in court room out of turn.

I always seem to latch onto the side characters in films. One of my favorites in this movie is Duvan Araga (Mpho Koaho), the 19-year-old jack-of-all-trades entrepreneur whom Elliott hires to be his tutor/driver. Duvan’s always-upbeat and sometimes awkward interactions with others is hilarious to watch. (I could watch a whole film about this character!) Rosita the housekeeper also provides some great comic relief in a scene where she tries to hide Elliott’s booze.

If there was one character I found a bit weak, it would be Eloise. She never seems to break down or cry over the loss of her grandmother—who has been her mother figure her entire life. For the most part Eloise is depicted as this always happy-go-lucky child who never seems to have any emotions. It just felt a bit unrealistic and unnatural.

Overall, I really enjoyed the comedic side of the film. And while the dramatic portion had some great performances, the film never seemed deserving of its title—besides Anthony Mackie’s character, it didn’t really seem like anyone else was really all that concerned with, focused on, or guided by race matters.

The Blu-ray video presentation looks great, giving a bright, detailed picture. The film is very dialogue-heavy, and the audio track provides a clear presentation, and the film’s excellent musical soundtrack also sounds fantastic. The Blu-ray bonus features include a 25-minute Making Of featurette with interviews with the cast, and two short promotional featurettes.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:01:25)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 5/5/2018):

• UltraViolet Digital HD Copy redeemable via Flixster or Vudu

Extras:

• Shades of Gray: The Making of Black or White (23:54)
  This behind-the-scenes featurette opens with Kevin Costner heading to the set for day one of the 25-day shoot in New Orleans. It then cuts between film footage, on-the-set-footage and talking-head interviews with the cast and creators as they discuss how the project came to be, the premise of the film, the cast, the director and filming in Louisiana. Includes interviews with writer/director Mike Binder, producer Todd Lewis, and stars Kevin Costner (“Elliott Anderson”), Octavia Spencer (“Rowena Jeffers”), Mpho Koaho (“Duvan Araga”), Gillian Jacobs (“Fay”), Bill Burr (“Rick Reynolds”), Anthony Mackie (“Jeremiah Jeffers”) and Jillian Estell (“Eloise Anderson”).
• Promotional Featurettes
  These promotional featurettes use clips from the film and some of the same interview footage from the Making Of featurette with stars Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer and Anthony Mackie.
  • Kevin Costner Featurette (2:02)
  • Family First Featurette (2:12)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:17)
• Sneak Peek (11:46)
  Play All or select from trailers for Far from the Madding Crowd, Beyond the Lights, Cake, Belle, 3 Days To Kill and Relativity Explosion.

Final Thoughts:

Black or White is an entertaining comedy/drama that provides a lot of laughs and some great dramatic moments, but it never really felt like it tackled the title subject matter to a huge degree. I’d suggest a rental first, but fans of the film should be pleased with the presentation.