While it doesn’t reach its lofty goals, Black or White does produce some food for thought regarding the issue of race in America, as well as a strong lead performance from Kevin Costner.

Black or White is in no way an “important movie”, even though that was no doubt the endgame aim from writer/ director Mike Binder. Released during the midst of a packed awards season, the film failed to gain any traction with awards bodies or critics, despite its topical narrative and star cast. Here in Australia it went straight to DVD.

Yet take away the lofty intentions and Black or White is a solid drama. Binder has a career filled with them (Upside of Anger, Reign Over Me), and he especially brings out the best in Kevin Costner whose turn as a alcoholic retired baseball player in Upside of Anger gave Costner that late career kick start he was looking for.

Costner stars as Elliot Anderson, a wealthy lawyer with a penchant for the drink, who along with his wife Carol (a very seldom used Jennifer Ehle) raise their biracial granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell). When Carol dies, the other grandmother in this equation Rowena Jeffreys (Octavian Spencer) files for shared custody, leading to a showdown in court where the issue of race and culture in a child's upbringing takes centre stage.

The films strength is its performances. Costner is especially good as a man whose grief brings forth a deep seeded anger, especially when confronted with the threat of losing the one thing left in his life that he loves. As mentioned before Binder knows how to get the best out of Costner, especially an older Costner who brings a certain weight and personality to his roles.

Young Jillian Estell is suitably effective as the young, fresh face cutie-pie caught in a tug of war between the two sides of her family. She is the stakes at play in this drama, both as a character and as a symbolic figure on the issue of race in an America which is currently in an ugly place when it comes to matters black or white.

It only makes it that much more unfortunate that Binder could not create a balanced dynamic to centre his story, with the “black” in the equation of his title coming across as much too antagonistic and –at moments- unlikeable. Part of this is the casting of Octavia Spencer as Rowena, the mama bear character that overflows with Spencer’s confrontational sassy-woman shtick that, although nabbed her an Oscar for The Help, is getting real old real fast.

Add several moments of questionable story choices, and the result is a well-meaning and well performed movie, but not a wholly rounded one. There is no doubt Binder meant for it to be the opposite, and he does raise many interesting questions that are framed by fine drama. Yet to truly make a mark in today's climate, more is expected from any filmmaker tackling such a big subject.