Have you noticed that Kevin Costner gives good speeches? He deftly handled his classic “I believe in …” speech in Bull Durham and his courtroom summations in JFK. He recently got a lifetime achievement award at the Critics Choice Awards, where he spoke pointedly about remembering to be grateful. His Oscar acceptance speeches for Dances with Wolves were pretty good, too.
Costner must like having writer-director Mike Binder create roles for him, because Binder likes to write speeches. Ten years ago in The Upside of Anger, Binder gave Costner a juicy part, and there’s more talk on tap in Black or White, their new collaboration. This time out, the speeches just about wreck it. Or they would, if the movie weren’t already on a wobbly track.