The Robert Downey Jr Film Guide
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The Robert Downey Jr Film Guide |
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Black and White (2000) |
Summary |
A plotless indie flick about the unlikely web of relationships among black and white New Yorkers |
Direction |
James Toback |
Downey Factor |
Fairly low, it's an ensemble cast. |
Character |
Terry Donnager, flaming queen whose wife conveniently ignores the fact he shamelessly flirts with every man in sight |
Looks |
Short brown hair, wild clothing. |
Performance |
The most stereotypically gay performance he has ever given, and yet he still shines every moment he's on camera |
Love & Sex |
Brooke Shields is his in-denial wife, Jared Leto is the most significant object of his affection |
Dies, Gay or Villain |
No. Yes. No. |
Other Actors |
Ben Stiller, Method Man, Brooke Shields, Mike Tyson, Jared Leto, Elijah Wood, Bijou Phillips, Allan Houston, Claudia Schiffer, Joe Pantoliano |
Connection |
Claudia Schiffer Friends and Lovers. Brooke Shields in The Outsider. Ben Stiller in That's Adequate and Tropic Thunder. James Toback's Two Girls and a Guy, The Pickup Artist and in The Outsider. Mike Tyson in The Outsider. Joe Pantoliano in US Marshals. |
Location |
New York City |
RDJ Says |
[James Toback] said that I should be someone who's directing a documentary. I said, "Maybe I'm in the periphery of the world." He goes, "Maybe you're married." I said, "Maybe I'm gay too" ... Well, I figured I've played a send-up version of the heterosexual James Toback in The Pick-Up Artist and Two Girls and a Guy. Why don't I now play the gay-hausfrau version of Toback? ... A stage slap from Mike Tyson is like a shovel whack from a normally fortified male ... I make Elton John look like a bullfighter ... Brooke and I chose our names -- Terry and Sam -- because they were androgynous, just like our marriage She got the more masculine name, because she wears the pants in the family. |
Release |
April 5, 2000 |
Availability |
Available on video. Released on DVD in Region 1, 2 and 4 |
Foreign Titles |
Brazil: Preto e Branco (Black and White) Croatia: Crno i Bijelo (Black and White) Poland: Czarne i Biale (Black and White) |
Rotten Tomatoes |
31% Fresh | 64 Reviews |
Critical View |
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: [James Toback] plugged actors into situations, told them where they had to go and let them improvise. This leads to an electrifying scene where Downey makes a sexual advance on Mike Tyson The Guardian: [Downey] has the best and funniest moment in the whole film. Terry goes up to Mike Tyson at a party ... and mincingly tells him that he dreamt about him last night ... Toback says this scene was improvised. If so, Robert Downey Jr has balls of titanium. |
2 Reasons to See It |
1. His scene with Mike Tyson 2. The scene where he breaks it off with his wife. |
Overall |
Robert Downey Jr. shines every second he's on camera. Every other moment (the majority) of the film is much less bearable. |
If You Like It |
You might also like Two Girls and a Guy (1998), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), rich white college boys who think they can rap |
Photos |
Video |