Not everything in Black and White makes sense

Black and White tells the story of Rupert Murdoch's 1950s rise to fame through a crusading story in his first newspaper…but the tale fails to keep this film afloat.

Black and White

Director: Craig Lahiff

Cast: Robert Carlyle, Colin Friels, Charles Dance, Ben Mendelsohn, Kerry Fox

Cert: 15.

As you flick through the 523 channels on Sky satellite television, you probably never thought of Rupert Murdoch as a hero.

Well, according to this film, he is … he may have swamped our small screens with channels flogging us dodgy steam-cleaners and fake-silver candlesticks, but when he was starting out to get a grip on the world's media he was a crusading, liberal-minded defender of the downtrodden and oppressed.

When Murdoch was a young shaver in the 1950s and with his first newspaper struggling against mightier opposition, he took up the case of a Aboriginal man facing the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit.

Actually, the campaign seems to be more about boosting circulation than saving the man and doing justice.

You're probably better off avoiding this…they're selling nose hair-trimmers on satellite TV.

Star Rating: 1/5