The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
White Hunter, Black Heart
Adventure · Drama · 1990
Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.
Movie details
White Hunter, Black Heart
“An adventure in obsession...”
1990 Adventure · Drama 1h 52m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.5 / 10
13.5K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
84 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
66 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over White Hunter, Black Heart?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Wake of the Red Witch
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The Adventures of Huck Finn
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The Call of the Wild
Adventure · 1972
John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Clint Eastwood
Written by
Peter Viertel · James Bridges · Burt Kennedy
Clint Eastwood
John Wilson
Jeff Fahey
Pete Verrill
George Dzundza
Paul Landers
Alun Armstrong
Ralph Lockhart
Mel Martin
Mrs. Macgregor
C
Clive Mantle
Harry
Timothy Spall
Hodkins
Court is in session
Put White Hunter, Black Heart on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.