White Man's Burden (1995)

White Man's Burden (1995) ** (out of 4)WHITE MAN'S BURDEN tries to tell a social story dealing in an alternate universe where America has black people at the top of the economic chain and whites are the poorly class. Factory worker Louis (John Travolta) is charged with a crime he didn't commit, he loses his home and job and finally snaps to the point where he decides to take his boss (Harry Belafonte) hostage and seek justice.WHITE MAN'S BURDEN, I think, has its heart in the right place. I guess the filmmakers thought that white people just couldn't understand the social injustices that are happening across America so they thought it would be a good idea to make a movie and reverse the race roles. This was a rather good idea and I think everyone had their hearts in the right place but the end result is a real letdown.The biggest problem with this movie is its rather stupid screenplay, which seems to think that the viewers aren't all that bright and that this role reversal thing will be all it takes to change people's minds on various social issues. THe problem with this movie is that the set-up just isn't all that good and to this day I still remember the various laughs that the film got in the theater as most people just weren't buying it.The screenplay asks a lot of challenging quetions about race, social justice and various other things but we're given no answers, which makes the entire film seems kind of pointless. You have the role switch yet nothing much is ever done with it. It's really too bad that the film just didn't pack much of a punch because both Travolta and Belafonte are quite good in their roles.As it stands, WHITE MAN'S BURDEN tries to have an "A" message but the entire film seems like a "B" movie from the 1970's when blaxploitation was a big craze. The film probably would have played even better back then as more laughs would have gone for, which would have taken away some of the unintentional ones that are here.

White Man's Burden is the type of film that if written by some stellar world Author and directed by the Hollywood Artistic elite and housed some of the world's finest actors it might have been an Academy Award darling. I don't mean to downplay any of the fine cast or director/writer Desmond Nakano who doesn't really have a lot of experience but I think really did try his best with this low budget production. He has a message that he's really trying to convey with this film and it's undoubtedly a powerful and important message but the question is...what is it? The message on the surface you'd think is that what it would be like for the white race if they were in the position that the black race is in and has been for years? But I honestly don't think that is the message because the film doesn't tip toe around anything. In fact if that is the message and I were a person of African American descent I'd be a little offended because most of the white people (99%) are portrayed in Ghetto's, committing crimes, being beaten, a lower class, sub-intelligent, well meaning group of people but clearly nowhere near the standard of the elite race (in this cast the black race.) I think his message is something different entirely but it's hidden amidst a bit of a muddled story and an unclear premise.John Travolta is a terrific screen presence. He has had his ups and downs but I think he's a terrific actor and really captures a character and has a great time and the best part is I always find him very down to earth, he's a regular joe and I'd love to meet him some day. His performance, I think, is very good and one of the more powerful in the film as down on his luck white guy Louis Pinnock. Pinnock cares about his family and he's just tired of the way the world is working because he's been busting his butt for years to get on the good side of things. Some suggest that his performs seems to show Pinnock has a lack of intelligence and I don't disagree but I think that might be where the character is supposed to go. I think he lacks book smarts, and maybe he's a little slower hence why he goes to these rash ends to help his family. He's a man at his breaking point and I think he is terrific in the role. Harry Belafonte is terrific as rough around the edges but part of the wealthy elite Thaddeus Thomas. Travolta and Belafonte have good chemistry which is vital for this film. It's not perfect and I think their chemistry and relationship could have been better portrayed but it's done decently. I would have loved to have seen a black actor with a little more experience and talent perform the role (Morgan Freeman perhaps?) The supporting cast are decent enough including Kelly Lynch as Pinnock's wife and Margaret Avery as Thomas' wife. Also in a really good performance is the young Andrew Lawrence (of the Lawrence brothers) as Pinnock's son who really does a terrific job in the birthday shopping scene.There are some truly powerful scenes in the film including the above shopping scene where young Donnie Pinnock chooses a popular 'Black' Super Hero toy over a less expensive white one. The world they live in is not entirely different from our own with the exception that it would seem as though the white race is a lesser class. I read one review that suggested Nakano's message was that things wouldn't be different for any other race had they had the same situation that black people have had. That message seems to ring true throughout the film. It still is a message about acceptance and understanding a man fighting for what he believes in the only way he knows how. It's an interesting film but just doesn't have the power and the backing that it could have or should have had. Still it's a very interesting watch especially for Travolta fans because I think his performance was very good. The film is an interesting and very different story which is always a good thing. 7.5/10

Minor Spoilers On the plus side, it was believable. It had good acting. I especially liked Harry Belafonte getting irate at the inept white cashier for not helping him get robbed by John Travolta. That was a nice touch to add some twisted realism to the movie. I laughed at that one part. But the rest was just so depressing, and that story line (apart from the racial switch) has been done to death. Take Boys in the Hood and switch the white and black people around. There was no real point other than the fact that racism exists in our world and that it's a darned shame people get discriminated against. Really? Wow! Who knew? So if you want to be miserable and your favorite Blues radio station has been taken over by the Dance Mix Syndicate, go rent White Man's Burden. Otherwise, don't.

I think the ending was sad. I felt sorry for Travolta, even his son. But I disagree with the comment about "whats the point" because it shows what I go through weekly. I mean, some of it is extreme, but true. And when Belafonte remarked, "well, most of them don't have father's" in response to his wife's comment about the white kids discipline, it was... I'm at a lost for words. I'm watching it again tonight, and I think every white man needs to see the movie, and every black man. It was a trip seeing the roles flipped. But the movie is truly, "a trip". I mean, when Belafonte talks about the "socially crippled, genetically inferior" whites, its a trip, just hearing that. I study psychology, and all these theories are pervasive, and they relate to science by the genetic concepts of the 20th century, i mean, eugenics and it is really wild. Anyway, this is a must see movie. You must see it. I'm mad I didn't know it existed for the last ten years.