Fences (Denzel Washington, December 25 2016) Movie

Looks good. Denzel and Viola Davis, what an acting duo that'll be.

 

Here for it

 

I'm here for it w/ @dhayes

 

Reading this with my students this year, haven't read it before. Looks good

 

always down for Denzel directing.

 

Looks so good.

 

I saw tis film Saturday nigh tand thought it was just good. If you saw the trailer and thought OH MY GOD THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR, let me assure you, you may or may not come out a bit disappointed. The film is just and I mean just an adaptation from the play nothing more, nothing less.

Full review here: Fences Review

Washington working on camera and behind it for the third time does a magnificent job juggling both. There are several versions of Denzel Washington in cinema. There’s the "cool" Denzel, the "I know everything" Denzel, and "I can’t get my life" together Denzel. Just like Robert Zemeckis’ Flight this mixes the "I can’t get my life together" with the "I know everything" Denzel with Troy Maxson. He is delivering this great dialogue in a rapid voice with so much charisma that you even as flawed as he is you believe he can do no wrong even when he does the worst towards his family. As easy as it may seem, Washington puts all his passion into the film with his direction and his performance.

The cast member that truly blew me away was Viola Davis. Viola Davis doesn’t only keep up with Washington’s performance but at the same time manages to outshine him. From the numerous works she has done in film and television, this is arguably one of the best performances she has ever put on. She is an ultimate powerhouse who both commits to the role that you can believe that she knows at the back of her hand. There are clips of the play on YouTube of her breaking scene that is powerful but as its transformed in the film, it's so powerful it’s damn near moving. I have never trembled so hard watching an actress in tears that snot comes out of her nose more than Davis in this film. If you have snot coming down your nose as performing, that is full on dedication. Somehow by breaking down emotionally like that, comes across more realistically human than any actress in tears. It can really define the perspective of a person’s performance.

 

Saw it yesterday and enjoyed this film quite a bit. Just a powerhouse acting showcase for Washington and (especially) Davis. Davis owns this role spectacularly, easy to see how she won a Tony for playing it on stage. I also should say I never saw or read the play so this was my first exposure to the material. Likely why I enjoyed it so much compared to someone who has seen/read the play before.

 

The acting was so damn good. I'm not familiar with the play but it was very clear it was based on one.

 

Denzel and Viola were both great, it didn't feel too much like a play to me as opposed to a movie for me short of it being so dialogue heavy

 

Yeah, for me it definitely still felt like a play at times, even though it was a (very well-made) film. The one location, the blocking, the dialogue, everything about it. I really liked the film, though, as I said above. It's just that if I hadn't known going in that this was based on a play I would have immediately recognized that it was after like the first half hour or so.

Also Viola is finally getting her Oscar this year goddammit. She'll be joining the likes of Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) and Anne Bancroft (The Miracle Worker) as an actor who won a Tony and an Oscar for the same role.

 

The long monologues felt ripped right from the stage. The opening 15 minutes especially. (Not a bad thing)

 

Yeah, I mean, it's August Wilson, it was always going to be well-written.

 

Not sure what people complaining about the stageiness (not here, but I've seen plenty of it) wanted Denzel to do to try and fix that. He's adapting a play...

It may be Denzel's career-best performance though.

 

Not a complaint. It's just noticeable that this is based on a play, is all. I'm honestly surprised to hear anyone say that it didn't feel like a play.

 

That final scene, where the clouds break and everyone looks up at the sun, felt like something that works a lot better on a stage than in a film. Some restraint there might have helped the ending for me.

But while so much of what's powerful about Fences comes from the source material, Denzel deserves a lot of credit for how he translated it to another medium. Of course the performances are incredible, but he does bring some dimension to the work as a film that works really well.

 

I liked this a lot. Great performances across the board. Denzel is as compelling to watch as he's ever been.

 

This was quite a watch if you are a fan of just watching actors sink their teeth into roles. Everyone was soooo good in here. I loved the character of Troy and how complex he was. He was terrible to Rose, but I think he was pretty fair to his kids, if anything a little harsh but not mistreated I'd say. Davis is so deserving of her award and curious to see what the Oscars do with it.

 

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