Would-Be Look At Race Relations Bogs Down In Murky Plotlines

“Remember the Titans,” which opens in theaters tonight, is Hollywood’s latest look at race relations in America. Another attempt to explore the ever-evolving theme on film, “Black and White,” leads the list of movies that are newly available this week to the home entertainment market.

Following are the week’s main home-entertainment releases:

Black and White

**

It’s no surprise that mainstream America has a particular fascination with African-American culture. With white teens sporting baggy shorts and hip-hop tunes influencing our language, Hollywood is now looking at “whassup.” Hollywood, however, seldom gets it right.

This film by James Toback follows several stories at once: that of a documentary filmmaker and her gay husband (Brooke Shields and Robert Downey Jr.) looking at white teens affecting black lifestyles; the teens themselves (including Bijou Phillips and Elijah Wood); a cop (Ben Stiller) trying to win back his ex-girlfriend (Claudia Schiller) by trapping her current boyfriend (Allan Houston) into giving up his longtime friend, the thug Rich Bower (Wu Tang’s Oli “Power” Grant). And so on.

Toback has a vision, even if it is a bit skewed and ends up going nowhere, and he gets some suitable screen presence from from the always-dependable Downey, and from the authenticity of Power and the one-and-only Mike Tyson. The movie’s plotlines may not go anywhere, and much of it may be as original as Vanilla Ice’s wardrobe was fashionably hip, but it is fascinating to watch. (VHS/DVD) Rated R

Where The Heart Is

**

Natalie Portman pounced onto the big screen in two films (“The Professional,” “Beautiful Girls”) that promised more. But then she fell into a period of creative somnolence, during which she gave disspirited performances in films as different as “Everyone Says I Love You” to “The Phantom Menace.”

Here, she continues her revival (following her role in “Anywhere But Here”) by playing Novalee Nation, a young pregnant woman abandoned by her white-trash boyfriend (Dylan Bruno) in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Based on the novel by Billie Letts, the film follows Novalee’s struggle to assert herself in the face of limited opportunity.

Too much of the movie, directed by first-time filmmaker Matt Williams, plays on stereotypes (especially by the usually excellent Ashley Judd) to be more than slightly believable. The other problem is a too-easy ending that stretches the notion of fantasy to the limit. In the end, Portman proves better than the material around her. (VHS/DVD) Rated PG-13

Final Destination

**

If there is a life/death design for us all, it must involve watching movies that serve up teenage sacrifices as so much sushi. Devon Sawa (“Idle Hands”) plays Alex Browning, a kid who … sees things, you know? That’s why he’s able to get off a flight to France that ends up killing most of his high school friends. The few who survive with him regard him with fear, even as death begins reclaiming them one-by-one.

Director James Wong, who co-wrote the script with a committee, manages to keep things more interesting than, say, the two “I Know What You Did Last Summer” movies, despite some pretty lame plot twists. After all, just what is Tony Todd (“The Candyman”) supposed to be, anyway? (DVD only) Rated R