Fences

The genre of drama comes in many different layers: light drama, heavy drama and ones that are based on plays and/or musicals. When you get an amazing playwright, actors and director together in one production, the course of that film is destined to become a classic as soon as it is released which makes "Fences" a truly awesome experience.

 

This story centers on an African-American garbage collector named Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) in 1950's Pittsburgh. Bitter that baseball's color barrier was only broken after his own heyday in the Negro Leagues, Maxson is prone to taking out his frustrations on his loved ones specifically oldest son Lyons (Russell Hornsby) and younger son Cory (Jovan Adepo) who wants to play professional football but Troy only works to squelch his dreams. The main stable stronghold here is wife Rose (Viola Davis) whose compassion, patience, perseverance, long-suffering and diligence help to keep the family intact at all in spite of the other's shortcomings.

 

Others to round out the cast are Stephen McKinley Henderson as Jim Bono, a great friend/ work colleague of Troy's, Mykelti Williamson as Gabriel, Troy's mentally-challenged brother, Saniyya Sidney as Raynell, Christopher Mele as Deputy Commissioner, Leslie Boone as Evangelist Preacher and Jason Silvis as Garbage Truck Driver.

 

This was brilliantly directed by Denzel Washington ("Antwone Fisher" '02, "The Great Debaters" '07) plus TV. He hasn't directed very many films, however the one's he's chosen are of incredible caliber as if his choices have been delineated with extreme caution. He truly knows how to make his characters come alive with just the right amount of pathos and emotion. It was equally well written by August Wilson based on his Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Fences". The delineation of each character was rich in development as it was three- dimensional. there were scenes that were fraught with intensity, grit and acknowledgement of self worth, fear and redemption which is the mark of extremely talented writing. Then there is the acting by Washington and Davis. What can I say be that it was jaw dropping. Both actors won Tony Awards in a 2010 revival of this play. The intensity, pathos, and so many other emotions rang true in each and every scene as these characters were peeling off each layer of that onion to show their respective issues one at a time.

 

This film will be studied in film school for its depth, clarity of character and resonance in the future, because of its quality and assurance of great writing. It's no wonder why this film has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards. It undoubtedly will be nominated for Academy Awards as well. If you can appreciate fine writing, directing and acting, you will hit the jackpot with this one.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                Rated: PG-13                                   137mins.