Dear White People (2014)

The lives of four black students at an Ivy League college.

Director:

Justin Simien

Writer:

Justin Simien (screenplay)

Stars:

Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner

14 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tyler James Williams	...	Lionel Higgins
Tessa Thompson	...	Samantha White
Kyle Gallner	...	Kurt Fletcher
Teyonah Parris	...	Colandrea 'Coco' Conners
Brandon P Bell	...	Troy Fairbanks (as Brandon Bell)
Brittany Curran	...	Sofia Fletcher
Justin Dobies	...	Gabe
Marque Richardson	...	Reggie
Malcolm Barrett	...	Helmut West
Dennis Haysbert	...	Dean Fairbanks
Peter Syvertsen	...	President Fletcher
Brandon Alter	...	George
Kate Gaulke	...	Annie (as Katie Gaulke)
Brian James	...	Martin
Keith Myers	...	Mitch

Storyline

A social satire that follows the stories of four black students at an Ivy League college where controversy breaks out over a popular but offensive black-face party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in acutely-not-post-racial America while weaving a universal story of forging one's unique path in the world.

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Plot Keywords:

race relations | satire | ivy league university | controversy | election | 

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Taglines:

A satire about being a black face in a white place

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 March 2015 (France)

Also Known As:

Cara Gente Branca

Filming Locations:

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$347,959, 17 October 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,404,154, 25 January 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Code Red, Duly Noted, Homegrown Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Lena Waithe and writer-director Justin Simien met in a scriptwriter's group. Despite the fact that the script was over 200 pages long, Waithe was so impressed with Simien's writing that she told him if he could figure out a way to streamline the script she would produce it, despite having never produced a film before.

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Goofs

When Sam is in the dining hall and chastises Kurt for eating in their dining hall - just before she stands up; she closes her Macbook twice.

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Quotes

Reggie: My man, how come you never come to BSU?
Lionel Higgins: I listen to Mumford and Sons and watch Robert Altman movies . Do you really think I'm black enough for the Union?
Smoothe: Yo! I *love* Robert Altman! Motherfucker goes *in*!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits include photographs of the real-life blackface (and brownface) college parties that inspired the film's climax.

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Connections

Spoofs Do the Right Thing (1989)

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Soundtracks

45 Drum Break
Performed by The Co-Stars
Written by Neely Dinkins Jr. (as Neely Dinkins)
Vito Colapietro Courtesy of Atom Factory Music Licensing

User Reviews

Wasted potential

Justin Simien's directorial debut should be lauded for its ambition, but as both a director and screenwriter, he has a long ways to go. An attractive cast of varying ability is saddled with an overstuffed script that has unnecessary subplots and diversions (while still having a convenient economy of characters), leaving a movie that lurches around from plot point to plot point, with some areas of that plot being underdeveloped and unconvincing.

Meanwhile, Simien the director is all over clever visuals and storytelling devices, yet he has a hard time dealing with various tones of the movie. More importantly, the pace of the film is leaden, which sucks the life out of some of the potentially humorous situations, while making some of the social commentary come off as more strident than need be. A lot of scenes feature awkward staging, with some actors seeming to not know what to do as a scene winds down.

The result is a movie with more than its fair share of nice moments and some winning performances, with almost no cohesion whatsoever. This is a shame, as Simien makes some good points throughout the movie on the state of race relations in America.

Roger Ebert noted that it's not necessarily what a movie is about, but how it is about it. The high praise for this movie represents the flip side of this notion, as it's getting plaudits for what it's about rather than its execution.