A seasoned Kevin Costner, plays the role of a grieving father who’s just lost his wife in a car accident. Yet the bigger issue is that his wife was responsible for raising their granddaughter, since Costner and his wife lost their daughter during childbirth. Now Costner is left alone to raise Eloise (Jillian Estell). He’s always been her “Papa” and she’s his “Puppy.” And btw, she’s African-American.
Inspired by true events, the story attempts to warm us to the awkwardness of the day-to-day care taking of a young girl who clearly needs a steady disciplinarian. But the situation isn’t so ‘black or white’ – reflective of the film’s title. There’s a grey line as to who should raise the child.
And, Eloise’s grandfather (Costner) hits the bottle a bit too much, unprepared for the onslaught of homework and responsibility to go solo with this young girl. But his skills as a lawyer come into play when he’s sued by Rowena (Octavia Spencer) the child’s biological grandmother on Eloise’s father’s side, who has as much right to her as Costner does.
What’s more interesting is that Costner, according to Spencer, doesn’t want to ‘go there’ – going there – meaning admitting she’s half black. Costner depends on Duvan (Mpho Koaho) a young math tutor with a perfect resume to be his ally, but it’s not enough to ‘cut it’ for custody. Of course if he loses the child it means he’s lost every woman in his life…three generations worth.
The film is sentimental and earnest, but sprinkled with flaws from the get-go. The man has just lost his wife but doesn’t show much emotion in the way a widower might suffer as result of tragedy. The story moves slowly, as we anticipate some great acceleration that never happens. This storyline makes us feel this would be better suited as a made-for-TV-movie than a cinematic experience. ♕♚♛