Fences

Starring: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, Saniyya Sidney
Directed by: Denzel Washington
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A blue collared worker (Denzel Washington) tries to support his family and wrestles with his own life in the 1950s.

Review:

Tim: Denzel Washington's Fences is a really good movie, an effective adaptation of the play. The movie does feel like a filmed play at times- the dialogue, the staging, it all hearkens back to this story's roots. All five main actors here also played those roles during the 2010 revival of the play. I have to admit that feels just a little bit like cheating- each of the actors rehearsed these lines and these people again and again and again on the stage. Still, if that translates into an effective, powerful movie, I'm okay with that.

The most striking aspect of this film are the performances, as you might expect. Everyone's really good, but Denzel Washington and Viola Davis stand apart. Washington has always been a great actor- even though he makes a lot of action movies, you can't deny that he is an exceptionally gifted actor. He is tremendous in this role, embracing the more unlikable aspects of his character, even while helping you identify with, understand, and sympathize with him. He's comfortable and authentic in the role and it's truly something to see. Viola Davis is likewise fantastic in her part. She doesn't have the in-your-face intensity that Washington exudes, so her impact on the film is more reserved, quiet. She does get a couple of remarkable scenes where she's able to convey so much emotion and her vast talent is on display. She did win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. I applaud the win, even though it feels like she was probably more of a Lead Actress. Still, that doesn't take anything away from her performance. The movie also gets a tremendous supporting performance by Stephen Henderson (honestly, he is so, so good) and Mykelti Williamson. Truly, all the actors here are top notch.

I like that the film focuses on a telling a powerful story about regular people. The main character is a sanitation worker- you don't see many films about those people. I really appreciated that. I will admit that the movie is probably too long at 2 hours, 19 minutes. It just takes a lot to sit through. There's quite a few sequences that felt less powerful and slightly repetitive. I think the movie would have been better had it been 10-15 minutes shorter. I liked the story, but it just felt like it took forever to reach its climax.

One of the questions I continually wrestled with was "Is this a great movie?" It won an Academy Award and was nominated for a total of 5, including Best Picture. I wouldn't take any of those accolades away. But, we all know what kind of films the Academy focuses on. Outside of them, was this a great movie? I think it got awfully close, but didn't quite reach that level. You have such beautiful dialogue, you have a family on the brink of crumbling, you have a wide range of emotion. And yet, all the action felt somewhat removed. It almost felt like we were in the audience, looking up at the stage. That's an easy complaint, I know, but I'm trying to verbalize why I wasn't quite blown away by this film. There were so many terrific moments, but the movie as a whole just felt like it was missing a few targets that could have propelled the movie forward. I don't know if I ever loved this movie, at any point in watching it. I really liked it, but I was never fully hooked. It's an exceptionally good movie- I don't mean to take a single thing away from it. I just wouldn't quite call it a "great" film.

I don't know. This is just my opinion and poor attempt to assign a numerical value to something as immeasurable and beautiful as a movie. I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone- it's hard to get through at times, but it tells a powerful story. Fences is a very, very good film and Washington continues to prove he's one of the most talented people in Hollywood.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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