White Man's Burden (1995)
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24% of critics liked it
(33 reviews) -
39% of users liked it
(6,537 ratings)
From director-writer Desmond Nakano comes this unusual role-reversal picture examining racism from a different perspective. Louis Pinnock (John Travolta) is a semi-literate worker in a chocolate candy factory. One day he makes a delivery to the mansion of wealthy Thaddeus Thomas (Harry Belafonte).… More From director-writer Desmond Nakano comes this unusual role-reversal picture examining racism from a different perspective. Louis Pinnock (John Travolta) is a semi-literate worker in a chocolate candy factory. One day he makes a delivery to the mansion of wealthy Thaddeus Thomas (Harry Belafonte). He is noticed while he is unintentionally looking up at Thomas' wife, Megan (Margaret Avery), while she is undressing in an open window. Thomas makes sure that Pinnock is fired for this innocent indiscretion despite his years of reliable performance at the factory. Some time later, unemployed and destitute, Pinnock and his wife Marsha (Kelly Lynch) and children are evicted roughly from their home by police officers. Marsha's mother (Carrie Snodgress) takes in her daughter and grandchildren, but she won't let Pinnock stay. Police officers beat up Pinnock one day because, they say, he fits the description of a criminal suspect. Finally, Pinnock goes to Thomas's house to get an explanation for his firing, but Thomas doesn't remember the incident. Pinnock takes Thomas hostage and demands he be paid for all the hours of work he has missed. In this film, all the authority figures and wealthy people are black, and Pinnock is a member of a poor white underclass. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Directed By
- Desmond Nakano
- Genres
- Drama, Television
R,
- In Theaters
- Dec 1, 1995 Wide
- Studio
- HBO Video
Critic Reviews
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
Were it not for John Travolta's big-hearted portrayal of an unemployed white factory worker driven to commit a desperate act, the movie would be an emotionally frozen exercise in cautious high-mindedness.
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Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
White Man's Burden spirals into tragedy but never into stirring drama. It stays stuck at the level of noble experiment.
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Surprisingly lively and entertaining.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
There isn't much of a story in White Man's Burden.
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Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
White Man's Burden was worth doing once, if it only to find out it isn't worth doing again.
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Cast
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John Travolta
as Louis Pinnock
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Harry Belafonte
as Thaddeus Thomas
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Kelly Lynch
as Marsha Pinnock
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Margaret Avery
as Megan Thomas
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Tom Bower
as Stanley
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Robert Gossett
as John
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Carrie Snodgress
as Josine
- Michael Beach
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Willie C. Carpenter
as Marcus
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Judith Drake
as Dorothy
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Tom Nolan
as Johansson
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Sheryl Lee Ralph
as Roberta
- Bert Remsen
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Bumper Robinson
as Martin
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Tom Wright
as Lionel
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Wesley Thompson
as Williams
