Fences: Denzel Still Getting the Job Done
Denzel Washington has had one of the most illustrious film careers in history. Time and time again, he has continued to shine with whatever role he has to play. Even at his rising age of sixty-two, he is still getting the job done. In his next project, Denzel directs and stars in the adaptation of a play with the same name called “Fences.”
“Fences” follows a prideful Pittsburgh native (Denzel Washington) who lost his dream of becoming a professional baseball player because of the color barrier. The pride and misery that he has, gets brought onto his son who wants to be an aspiring football player.
The Review
Denzel definitely has a talent for directing. Although this wasn’t the hardest film to maneuver, it was still impressive to see his specific style. I think it was his performance that really stood out to be though. This movie had probably the most dialogue that I’ve seen from a film this year. Something like that can make it tough for someone who is trying to both direct and star in a film. However, Denzel does it exceptionally well.
Viola Davis playing his wife was another fantastic addition to the cast as she has been rightfully nominated for a Golden Globe and possibly and Oscar award. There were a couple of scenes between her and Denzel that were a little overly cinematic, but still impactful. There were quite a bit of interesting plot points between these two characters.
I found it to be very interesting when Denzel would tell stories about how much he couldn’t stand his father, but he turned out to be the same way. You would think that because he had really no connection with his father that he would be different towards his son (Jovan Adepo). However, even at the points where his son tried to bond with him, there really was no chance. Neither person had much in common, so as a result they butted heads quite often.
Although the amount of dialogue Denzel had to practice was impressive, some of it was kind of repetitive. I felt like I was watching the same scene at some points. He continually brought up his duty to take care of his family and it just kind of got sickening at certain levels. The movie’s two hour running time could have been cut shorter if some of the script was better written. Not only that, but there was little too much small talk. At times like these, I was counting the seconds to the scene being over, which is not good.
Despite the weaknesses in the dialogue, the scenes that were really good, were very insightful and engaging. I felt a strong connection with Denzel’s character because the audience had a sense of who he was as a person and why he was that way. I could say the same for his wife and his son as well. I think that these parts of the film made up for the weaker aspects.
All in all, I’m glad that I was able to witness Denzel direct and star in his passion project. For those who love and appreciate his filmmaking ability, you will be a sucker for this movie. Although some of the dialogue could have been used more effectively, you still got a feel for every character in the movie, as well as their personality.
