Full disclosure: I walked out on this film about halfway through, so if it had a big climactic finish that blew the audience away, I missed it. But what I saw was very underwhelming and not worthy of the high critical praise Dear White People is getting so far.
This movie is about the black student body at an ivy league school, and the junior film maker who is fighting the “white authority” for perceived injustices. I’m not an idealist and I know there is still racism in America, but the movie does a poor job of backing up the protagonist’s arguments. She makes wild claims without really arguing her testimony, while hiding behind big $2 words to fool the audience. To make matters worse, nearly all the characters in the film are stereotypical clichés, further damaging any statement the filmmakers are trying to make. For me personally, even the style of the film was hard to watch, it was very jumpy in a Wes Anderson-like way, but with none of the quirky, funny dialogue and scenes that make his films so endearing.
The film just seemed like it was going as far as it could to create controversy. It’s the kind of film that critics love because it is “edgy” and “eye opening” but I just don’t see the substance that they are all hyping. Maybe I’m just a dumb white guy.
Jons Movie Takes 