Black and White (1999) Poster

(II) (1999)

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6/10
Worth Watching Just for Gina Gershon
dromasca28 September 2003
'Black & White' is quite a conventional cop story. The script idea is quite interesting - a murder investigation that turns quickly in an internal police investigation involves a young (and Catholic!) cop and his sexy and more mature partner (Gina Gershon). Unfortunately, the good idea leads to a script full of logic holes (a several minutes shooting scene in a hospital at night without anybody hearing, for example!). Directing is heavy and conventional, makes the film difficult to watch, and spoils even the rather surprising final. The only reason that makes this film worth watching is Gena Gershon - she is a good actress, looks more attractive than ever - even in a cops uniform, and the role fits her perfectly. 6/10 on my personal scale.
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5/10
Watch this only if you're a Gina Gershon fan.
ipswich-229 May 2000
This is one of the movies that you stay to watch the sexy actress lead, in this case Gina Gershon, but at the end you say "What? Is that it?". There was plenty of promise with the rookie cop- experienced cop pairing and all the twists that went along. But it all falters towards the end. This is not necessarily a bad film, but it was boring, especially the second half. Gershon is stunning to watch, but that's about all the excitement you'd get in the 90 minutes. Five of 10 is the rating I'd give for this movie that should have achieved so much more.
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4/10
Black and white and mediocre all over
=G=18 November 2002
"Black & White" tells of a tough street-wise female cop (Gershon) and her rookie nice-guy partner (Cochrane) who become embroiled in an Internal Affairs investigation when the mounting evidence in a serial killer case begins to point to Gershon. With plotholes galore, this B-flick plays out like a dime novel on film as its make-it-up-as-you-go story serves up contrivance upon contrivance. Nonetheless, Gershon's character's psychodynamics are sufficiently intriguing to make this a suitable watch for the needy sofa spud into cop flix. (C-)
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1/10
Huh?
B.B.-228 March 2002
An incomprehensible, slapdash film that looks as if it was edited with a meat cleaver. Scenes end for no reason, others appear almost out of context, and I am still waiting for a believable character to appear!
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6/10
Typical Bad Cop/Good Cop flick that is saved by Gershon.
JdMoV27 March 1999
"Black and White", like Traci Lords' "Exramarital," the bachelor party turned deadly "Stag," and the Alyssa Milano clunker "Below Utopia" (or "Body Count" as it says on video) before it, premiered on HBO as if it was too bad for theatres. Unlike the other three though, "Black and White" is a decent movie. Gina Gershon stars as a "bad cop" who may be on a killing spree as well as fighting the law. "Dazed and Confused" star Rory Chochrane, who is a good Catholic boy, is teamed with her. Gershon's character has been seen before, possibly as Katherine Martell in "Basic Instict." But with the strong performance from Gershon, she seems more real.

Gershon is an immensely talented and underrated actress. Thanks to her "Black and White" is worthy of a look. 2 aND a HaLF STaRs OuT oF FoUR.
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5/10
Gershon's great
Leofwine_draca21 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
BLACK AND WHITE is a not-bad suspense thriller with a nice starring role for Gina Gershon, an actress I find extremely underrated in cinema. She gives an edgy performance as a dedicated cop who may or may not be performing some illegal extra-curricular duties as part of her job. Unfortunately the film is saddled with a dull and slightly pious main character but Gershon rules the roost and livens things up whenever she's around.

The always interesting Ron Silver plays in support as a chess-playing cop superior. There's lots of sex and steamy content to give this a raunchy feel at times and the expected twist ending. As a film, BLACK AND WHITE passes the time well enough even if it isn't particularly great, which I put down to the low budget.
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Doesn't stand out from any other bad cop/good cop film
bob the moo13 December 2001
Devout Catholic O'Brien becomes a cop and is assigned to partner tough cop Hugosian. However when "the left-eye" serial killer turns out to be working out of the precinct O'Brien begins to suspect that Huggs may be even tougher on criminals that she appears.

This is a bog-standard TV movie with a slightly starry cast (Gherson, Silver). The story is pretty poor, with plenty of red-herrings and clues scattering all over the place. However it so clearly is pushing you in one direction that it lacks tension or any sense of interest. Basically all the clues point to Huggs to the extent that you know it's either her or it's building up to a big twist at the end.

The performances are not great. Cochrane as O'Brien is OK - he does ok with his fall from grace into the sin of his partner's life (right up until the final transformation implied by the final shot which is too much to believe). Gherson is good, but overplays her role too much. She has done the tough vamp plenty of times before better than this (Basic Instinct, Bound). Silver just does his usual creepy role and everyone else just moves round in the background.

Overall the plot is boring with a really poor twist at the end - a straight forward plot that sticks a silly twist in to save it's main stars. The performances are mixed but generally only ok. There are better good cop/bad cop movies than this you know!
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7/10
A Gina Gershon film
welambert0116 January 2016
If you are a Gina Gershon's fan this is the movie for you. The film tries to hard, you are never disappointed when Ms Gershon on screen.

No one plays crazy/troubled like Ms Gershon, with the exception of Ms Leigh. I forget the author, he once stated you can pick the best actor or supporting actor performance for the Oscars, you are always wondering what they are doing off screen. This movie by any standard is not Oscar worthy, but you do wonder what Ms Version is doing off screen.

The supporting cast is adequate, it is Ms Gershon performance which stands above. Rory Cochrane is pedestrian and his character as the naive innocent rookie is standard, actually caring for him: you don't. Ron Silver: you seen one performance you seen them all. Alison Eastwood: I keep waiting for the one performance to separate her from other actresses, this is not the role or performance.

The plot: A naive man becomes involved with a trouble exciting woman.

Similar movies: Body Heat meets Basic instinct.

Worth a late night.
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5/10
Expectable rogue cop fare.
rmax30482324 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
There are a couple of good things about this thoroughly routine cop mystery. Some of the performances are really pretty polished but they mostly come from actors in minor parts, such as Ron Silver and James Handy. And Silver looks great. His hair is combed back and up in what might be called a long brush cut. He's given a slight beard and mustache and a pair of rimless glasses which turns him into -- believe it or not -- a youngish Wolf Blitzer. None of the other performances are less than adequate with the possible exception of Allison Eastwood's, although she's certainly a beautiful woman. Painful to think that we may have lived through almost her entire film career, from "Tightrope," when she was eleven, through such highlights as "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," to this.

The plot's ordinary. One of the cops is shooting people through the eyeball for reasons no one can quite figure out. All they know is that it's a cop. Suspicion falls on one guy, then shifts to Gina Gershon, then shifts to -- well, enough. The last few minutes turn things around in a strictly predictable way.

The photography is cheap-looking and nothing is made of the location so there is nothing in the way of local color. The script is meant to be dramatic rather than humorous but sometimes it sounds as if the writers' naturally occurring sense of the sardonic could no longer be repressed. Discussing some sort of perversion, one cop remarks: "So what? Sex is legal in this state. A couple more Democrats in the house and it'll be compulsory." The commercial plot develops in such a way as to keep a viewer interested, though not engaged.
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6/10
A surprising movie... not great, but worth watching
landress13 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I can be a bargain shopper. I believe that almost any movie is WATCHABLE, and if a title intrigues me in a bargain bin, I'll buy it. I saw Black & White on the discount shelf at Best Buy and decided to give it a chance as I tend to like police movies. Still, it had Gina Gershon, so I was hesitant even at the $5.99 price.

It was a surprise though in that it was borderline enjoyable. What held it back was the direction. I feel like there was more to the script that got left out at times.

I was expecting nothing so when I saw the opening credits, I was right at that point. The names of the actors, director, writers, producers all flash in and out of a quick, cut and paste scene. That was a horrible start to the movie.

The beginning was equally horrible. There was the scene in the apartment that did not fit at all at the time. It seemed as if it was an excuse for Gina Gershon to appear semi-nude yet again. It drug on forever at the beginning.

It isn't until the end that everything begins to fit together and you see the purpose of some of the earlier scenes. The final 30 minutes lead you one way, only to reveal a nice little twist to end the movie.

If you can sit through the first 40 minutes without turning away, it will be well worth it. Gershon gives the best performance of her career, although I'm not sure how much that really says. The script is well written at times, and seems like filler at times. The direction was some of the worst I've ever seen, however, and that really limits the impact of the ending.
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1/10
More Painful to Watch Than Old Women Knitting
poiuytblivet28 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a real pathetic attempt at a modern-day film noir. The concept was good, but was truly executed poorly! Starting first with:

DIALOGUE - Excruciatingly painful. The dialogue between characters was similar to a screen test gone wrong. Some conversations seemed mismatched. At some points in the movie it seemed that conversing characters' lines weren't matching. If this was an editing error, then its an embarrassing one.

STORYLINE/PLOT - Very transparent; a person born blind and deaf could see what was going to happen before it happened and is finality. And what was the point keeping certain aspects of the story a secret?!? There was no mystery about this movie whatsoever! (Except the mystery about how it was given the green light) And what was with the ending? It was so asinine, I'm not even going attribute it any space in this review. I will say this: if it was a way of bringing the story around, it was a sad attempt.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT - Big zero! I'm not even sure who this movie was about. Apparently, the writers hadn't the first clue who the main character was; her or him? And their own story didn't mesh; it was very amateur. Also, I don't really believe that the main character - at his age whose living in LA - is THAT pious and innocent. And let's say - JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT - if this character really was that pious and innocent, he wouldn't break so easily. And if this story was about him I would think that his decline would've been the main focus; perhaps delved into a bit more. But alas, it wasn't.

In conclusion: this movie was so pathetically embarrassing, don't tell anyone you saw it.
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8/10
Interesting...
zhunting16 March 2005
Gina Gershon is extremely hot in this movie. A tough veteran cop, breaking in an innocent looking young catholic rookie. Although the movie is rather disjointed with some mediocre acting, I love Gershon's sensuality and... The story was strong enough to hold my interest beyond the sexy scenes with Gina. As she goes about 'breaking in' her new partner, the pretext was interesting as well as erotic. Ron Silvers' performance seemed especially poor. Allison Eastwood was a disappointment as well. Her young partner seemed to show some potential. The movie deteriorates rapidly as it gets convoluted. This cast and script should have produced an excellent movie. But, She makes it worth a watch!
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7/10
Liked the plot though the editing takes the score downwards...
roj-822 December 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I actually kind of enjoyed watching this movie! I found the plot and story pretty good and liked the way you are in doubt whether or not Nora is the killer.

I liked the plot ending where the brother steps in but it could have been made more surprisingly than it is. Though the very best of the movie is the ending where Chris have gotten a new partner and she asks "Thats where i live?" and hes like "I know.... I know." Greeaat ending :)

The hip hop backgroundmusic-a-like-soundtrack sounds OK good and it fits the film very well i think. So thats a plus ;)

What takes this movie down to be a "B-movie" is the editing and clipping in it. It looks like a very old though it's as new as 1998.
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4/10
Predictable Police Serial Murder Plot
Will_Sperling15 November 2000
If I had to give an award for some of the worst acting, it would go to this movie. I was ashamed to see Gina Gershon doing so poorly in the role of a (crooked) uniformed police officer. Not only was the plot predictable, but the acting stunk. It surprised me because Gina did a great job as Castor Troy's girlfriend in FACE/OFF. So, if you want to see a boring, predictable police "whodunnit" flick, then see it. My advice = forget it. James Handy played the Captain, or Lieutenant, or Sergeant, I forgot, but he's the jerk who plays Internal Affairs, or "IAB" as they call it on NYPD BLUE. He's another character who's acting is predictable, and his character is never really liked. But I guess that's what he's good at. Only actor who was worth his salt was Ron Silver. He does a convincing role as an investigator, but towards the end kind of just fades away! SKIP THIS ONE
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3/10
Lousy except for Gina
silverton-379593 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Lousy cinematography, lousy dialog, lousy storyline, and the subtitles are written by someone with a tin ear for dialog. The idiot keeps entering "caller" in place of "collar". I assume that the writer of the subtitles has never seen a cop film, and can't be bothered to look at the script.

Gina Gershon is as pretty as ever, and does a decent job of acting, but this was apparently made for network TV and didn't get picked up by any of the big 3 commercial pushing networks, so HBO must have gotten it for pocket change. It's maddening that Gina takes her clothes off and the camera won't show her except from the neck up.

The story is just flat out stupid. Ron Silver's character says that tire tracks at a murder scene match a particular cop car, but there's no way to connect it with any cop who may have driven it, as if the cops just jump into whatever car they come to first at the start of a shift. Stupid plot holes like that come from stupid writers.

I'm about 30 minutes into this and might not even watch anymore of it after writing this review.
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7/10
A surprisingly good erotic thriller!
Logan-221 June 2000
I caught this film on HBO last night and started off thinking it was going to suck (like most B-Movie late night fare, uncut or not), but once Gina Gershon enters the picture (about 10 minutes in), the picture starts to really take off, building up a clever web of erotic tension and suspense that kept me glued to the screen, waiting to see what was going to happen next. The stereotypical ending--despite catching me off guard for some reason (maybe because it was 5 am or I couldn't believe they resorted to such a hackneyed gimmick, you decide)--is a bit of a letdown, but don't let that stop you from watching what turned out to be a surprisingly good erotic thriller (despite having extremely minimal nudity, none of it Ms. Gershon's, which I thought odd considering her role certainly warranted it). I give it a 7 out of 10 (it would have warranted an 8 if not for the ending). Worth a rental or purchase (or staying up well past your bedtime in my case). If you like cop films and/or erotic thrillers, this is a pleasant surprise that you should make the effort to track down. I don't know why the director, Yuri Zeltser, has not made more films; he certainly shows a lot of talent. Congratulations to Ms. Gershon for a wonderful "bad girl" performance!
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4/10
slack story
rumphjr19 February 2000
Unworthy police-story. The woman is beautiful and erotic as every man wants. We know that. Stereotype! But the story is thin. At the end he shoots the woman. Why? Bad detective work. I became angry during the movie. Young and green this way: terrible. But: Put off your clothes because of the suspense was funny and good to remember.
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6/10
Summaries are useless, read the comment.
Tyler-Durden24 July 2000
Warning: Spoilers
It's such a shame that Gina Gershon is so underrated. She is very talented, I noticed since I first saw her in movies where her role wasn't the primary one in the film. Her performance in "Black & White" is excellent. She should get more recognition, she is a very hard working actress. Has anyone seen her history of movies in the past decade? She participated in over 20 films in the 90's, I think that is something that should deserve credit.

Rory Cochrane gives a good performance too, and so does Ron Silver and Alison Eastwood, but the best of the best in this movie was Gershon's acting. Only a few actresses could have done such a convincent job, the character looks very real, it was great.

The movie itself has a nice script, I couldn't say it was bored or anything. It keeps the viewer interested on it all the time.

There is a very sad thing about the movie, and is it Hugs's death. Gershon's character is really unique and people get to like her, and it's very sad to know that she dies, specially when she wasn't going to kill Chris. Or was she? I didn't understand that part very well, because Chris later said: "She went there to kill Michael Clemence, who was going to kill me". So, she wanted to protect Chris, not kill him, I assumed.

It really made me sad, I didn't want Nora to die. The movie is worth watching and it gets from me a score of 7 out of 10. Maybe a 6 would have been better, but, I don't know, maybe just because Gershon is so hot, I'll give it a 7.
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1/10
Trash
solidabs13 February 2021
Complete and utter trash. That was boring and another show where police advisors wouldve been nice.
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90's Thriller Gina Gershon
DMX78614 September 2020
This thriller movie is amazing, its one of the best movies cos it stars Gina Gershon in it. this film is quite violent, Gina Gershon's acting is excellent and shame she hasn't done anymore thrillers since 2017.
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4/10
Unremarkable
Stevieboy66617 January 2024
Young rookie Chris O'Brien (Rory Cochrane) is paired with tough female cop Nora Hugosian (Gina Gershon). A serial killer is at large in LA, victims are being shot through their left eye. It is revealed very early on that the killer is a cop and the number one suspect is all too obvious. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting a "Maniac Cop" or "Dirty Harry" but I was hoping for more in the way of psychological horror/suspense. This is a cheap looking made for TV movie and it shows, there are a few graphic bullet wounds, a bit of very tame sex and some swearing but nothing at all to get excited about. Some reviewers rave on about how hot Gina G is but I thought that Alison Eastwood (daughter of Clint) was the best looking woman in this film. Ron Silver plays a chain smoking cop investigating Nora but does very little apart from smoke. They go for a big twist ending but it's pretty stupid. The soundtrack features a phat lazy beat that kicks in now and then, that was probably my favourite thing!
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10/10
Pornography minus the sex scenes
zzalien8me31 January 2000
This movie was so fun, I mean thin plot line with lots of fun twists, painfully cheesy dialogue, and delicious eye candy. I mean something like 10 minutes into the movie the two main characters have undressed to "make sure theres no wondering what the others like under the uniform" or something. I thought I had accidently rented a porn, I mean I know Gina Gershon's career isn't doing fabulous, but Gina in a porn? to my relief it wasn't a porn (in the traditional definition) but it did begin to look alot like something you'd see on Skinimax at 11:00. Anyways, back to the movie, it was fun I recommend it, Rory Cochrane is adorable, and not a bad actor to boot, its not a movie that will keep you thinking for days, or hours, or minutes at that. Just lots of good old American cops and robber fun.
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3/10
Only for Gina and Nikki Fritz.
twonebody13 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Gina Gershon and Nikki Fritz is the only reason why I put up with this poorly written movie. So this movie presented a way to know your partner on the first day of working together is by going to their home and asking them to strip naked with you??? I will leave you with that.
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10/10
A Terrific Thriller
loretta-612 November 1999
Every once in a while, a terrific movie slips through the theatrical cracks (and I mean, CRACKS) and ends up shining on cable and video. "Black and White" is exactly that, a diamond in the rough of the video shelves. Tightly and smartly written, gripping, stylish, and atmospheric, this is a perfect counterpoint (is that the word?) to the generic shlock we're getting accustomed to. The performances by Gina Gershon and Rory Cochrane are first-rate. (A big surprise in case of Gershon, who judging by previous efforts and the current TV "Snoops" is no Meryl Streep -- but here, apparently due to top-notch directing, she glows and penetrates). But the real find here is Cochrane -- a striking young man, who oozes talent, not unlike the young De Niro in, let's say, "Taxi Driver". Clearly, this movie didn't have the budget of, say, "Double Jeopardy". But, scene for scene and pound for pound, it's more surprising, entertaining and riveting than that overrated dud. Kudos all around.
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10/10
An excellent thriller
jacobMN22 December 2000
I rented this one on DVD, and I must say, this movie is phenomenal. The acting, writing and, most of all, taut imaginative directing -- all first class. Gina Gershon is better than ever, but it's Rory Cochrane who really shines. A real gem! Also, the commentary by the director is very informative and entertaining. I'm adding this one to my collection.
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