A Journal for Jordan

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Chante Adams, Jalon Christian, Robert Wisdom, Tamara Tunie, Jasmine Batchelor, Marchant Davis, Susan Pourfar
Directed by: Denzel Washington
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After being killed in combat, a soldier (Michael B. Jordan) leaves a journal for his son to guide him through life.

Review:

Tim: I'm a big fan of Denzel Washington, although he has a far longer track record as an actor. He's shown great promise behind-the-camera. The Great Debaters is thoroughly enjoyable and Fences is such an impressive movie. They both improve on his decent (but flawed) directorial debut, Antowne Fisher. A Journal for Jordan muddies the waters, though. It's either a major step backwards or just a major misstep. It's easily Washington's worst film as a director. There's still redeeming qualities, but this run-of-the-mill film can only be described as a disappointment.

It feels like those who lived this story deserve a better movie than this. Based on a true story is always a worthwhile selling point, but I struggle to imagine living through such heartbreak as depicted in this film, the interest in using your story for a motion picture, and then getting a substandard movie like this. Especially when you have Denzel Washington telling your story. As I've said, I love Washington. No director is without an occasion misstep. I hope he learns from the mistakes made here and moves on.

As far as A Journal for Jordan, it's a bit bizarre how poorly this movie is made. I sat down excited to see this film because of Washington's track record. I very quickly felt like I was watching a throwaway television movie. It feels amateurish, like no one's heart was truly in this. That is so odd, because the story is powerful and the people it's meant to honor deserved a great movie. Everything about this film feels lackluster. I never really connected with the characters. This is somewhat due to the cast and somewhat due to the script, which feels simplistic and forced. It's ultimately a wildly predictable movie that you kind of just sit through. It washes over you, but never makes a lasting impression. The story structure doesn't help the film, although I'm not sure of a better way to present the movie. You kind of know everything that's going to happen in the film's synopsis and you just have to wait for it to occur on screen. Unfortunately, it doesn't help that the movie is 2 hours and 11 minutes long, which borders on cruelty. This absolutely contributes to the lower rating- Washington wastes far too much time on a story that quickly loses the audience's attention. Cutting 30 minutes from this film would have been a good move. That's outrageous for me to have to type that.

The cast doesn't help much, either. I don't have a clue why Chante Adams was cast in the lead role, but she nearly ruins the movie by herself. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes watching her in this role. Who cast her? Why wasn't she fired a week into production? Her acting would have been bad for a Hallmark movie. I never believed a single thing she did on screen. She's completely inauthentic, giving a forced, effortful performance. Michael B. Jordan might not be at his best here, but he still runs rings around Adams. It's like she is doing everything she can to keep up and it's hopelessly pointless. I've seen Adams in Monsters and Men and she didn't even register for me. Her performance might have been smaller, but she was completely unremarkable. It felt like I was watching a relatively inexperienced supporting actor thrust into a lead role that she was totally unprepared to deliver. I feel a bit bad railing against her, but her performance is one of the worst I've seen in a starring role in a long, long time. She wrecks the film with her poor performance. As stated, Jordan is fine- he's a good actor. I understand why he wanted to take this part, I'm sure it felt like an awards-caliber movie that would benefit him (and altruistically, he was likely inspired to tell this powerful, beautiful story). I felt bad that the movie around him wasn't very good. I don't think Jalon Christian was very good, either. His performance felt continually forced. He's young, so there's a bit of leeway given, but Christian didn't help the movie.

A Journal for Jordan is a boring, overly long, amateurish film that doesn't properly tell the story of these real-life people. It features multiple disappointing performances, none worse than Adams in the film's most vital role. While I've mostly complained here, I do acknowledge that Washington is a talented director (usually) and the film has the occasional decent moment. The story it tries to tell is powerful, I just wish it was told better. I hope everyone involved learns something from this failure and moves on to do better work. As for A Journal for Jordan, it's definitely a major misfire of 2021.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Monsters and Men, Antowne Fisher, Creed, Fences, The Great Debaters