Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Starring: Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo, Amanda Warren
Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A law expert (Denzel Washington) who struggles with social interactions has his life turned upside down when his longtime partner dies.

Review:

Tim: I'm a huge Denzel Washington fan and I loved Dan Gilroy's directorial debut, Nightcrawler. I should have liked this movie. Unfortunately, I did not. This was a pretty bad movie and I'm debating whether my rating was too generous. I really didn't care for it at all and I'm actually pretty shocked Washington received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Roman J. Israel, Esq. is an all around disappointing movie.

I still don't understand why we were supposed to care about Roman. He's such an unlikable character. He's brilliant, but quirky. The problem is that he's also a selfish, socially awkward, oftentimes mean character. I never cared about him in the least. Washington might have fun playing an odd, different character, but he never connects with the audience. I disliked his character immensely. And, as much as I like Washington, I'm stunned he received an Academy Award nomination. This isn't anywhere close to his best performance. Just because it's different doesn't mean it's good. Washington was fine in the role, but he certainly didn't deserve much acclaim. Now, I do place most of the blame on Dan Gilroy. He wrote and directed this weak film and his direction of Washington contributed to what I believe was a failure. I don't know, this aspect of the film is just one I throw my hands up. I don't understand how anyone looked at this as good. Colin Farrell I understand. Farrell actually gives a strong performance in the midst of this lackluster movie. I found Farrell's character significantly more interesting than Roman J. Israel (who not only is annoying in every aspect, but also has a cringe-inducing name that I dislike writing or even thinking).

I need to reiterate that I'm lobbying most of my criticism at Gilroy. This two-hour movie felt twice as long. It's a boring, plodding mess of a movie. I know he's focused on characters, but it doesn't help that the characters aren't all that interesting. I was continuously fighting to stay focused on what was happening on screen. If you don't care about the characters (and why would you? The movie never gives you a legitimate reason to care), then all the drama and twists don't matter. I didn't care about the story or what happened to Israel. Gilroy ensures there was so little investment in his characters. Whatever he was trying to do simply did not translate. It felt like Gilroy expected us to like Roman because he was played by Denzel Washington. He didn't make the character likable or interesting enough to hold our attention. Compare this to what he did in Nightcrawler, which was he made us invested in and understood a crazy, unlikable character. It was like he tried to pull off something similar, but it just did not work.

Now, as much as I struggled with this movie from start to finish, I admit it's not a terrible movie. I give Gilroy some credit for telling a story about a challenging, complex individual. Roman may not be likable, but he feels like a real person. Gilroy could have made this a cookie cutter story and he intentionally does not. His attempt might not have worked as he wanted, but the attempt earns this movie some credit. The film does focus on character quite a bit, which is appreciated regardless of the end product.

I'm not entirely sure what happened with Gilroy's vision for this movie. I have to believe something went awry because this is a flawed, surprisingly joyless movie. I see what he was trying to do (I think) but I just couldn't feel interested in these characters or the journey Gilroy took them on. I love Denzel Washington and I see everything he does, but Roman J. Israel, Esq. is one of the worst movies he's made in a long, long time.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Nightcrawler, The Great Debaters, Philadelphia