Fences
Fencesstruggles to make the leap from the stage to the big screen, but is kept afloat by the powerhouse performances of its leads.
Troy Maxson ( Denzel Washington ) is a 53 - year old food waste collector who lives in Pittsburgh circa the mid-1950s , along with his wife Rose ( Viola Davis ) and son Cory ( Jovan Adepo ) . After his dreams of becoming a baseball game player go unrealized when he was younger ( due to Troy ’s advance years by the metre professional baseball game was racially integrated ) , Troy now spends his days working alongside his longtime friend Jim Bono ( Stephen McKinley Henderson ) and providing care for his family - including , his now - adult son Lyons ( Russell Hornsby ) and his brother Gabe / Gabriel ( Mykelti Williamson ) , the latter of whom was entrust mentally impaired by a heading injury that he suffered while fighting in WWII .
The weight of his province , coupled with the worked up baggage that Troy has accumulated from years of living in a humankind that seems enwrapped on keeping him down ( because of his race and backcloth ) , begin to impact everything in Troy ’s life from his family relationship with Cory - a bright athlete in his own right hand who has a shot at being recruited to play college football - to his 18 - year of ( loosely happy ) marriage with Rose . As such , Troy is soon faced with the question : is he a protective father and care husband … or has he gone from being the bully to becoming a hooligan himself ?
Fencesis the third film directed by Denzel Washington and see the two clock time Oscar - succeeder forge both on - and - offscreen , like he did on his late two feature film - length helming efforts ( Antwone FisherandThe Great Debaters ) . Washington previously appeared with his costar here , Viola Davis , in the 2010 Broadway revival of the original Pulitzer Prize - winningFencesplay by the late August Wilson , netting both player Tony Awards for the same roles that they are now playing in the movie adaptation - which is not to say that the film version reaches the same aesthetic heights as the work of theatre that inspired it . Fencesstruggles to make the leap from the leg to the big sieve , but is maintain afloat by the powerhouse public presentation of its leads .
Based on an adapted screenplay that Wilson is credited for , Fencesserves as a great performing showcase for Washington and Davis - supply a admonisher that , on the off - opportunity that anyone had blank out , both actors are more than equal to of deport emotionally - intense and raw performances when call for . Washington in particular hands down carries many a scene , ingrain his character Troy ’s extended monologues and overtly - theatrical dialogue with the same naturalism as his less poetic ( that is , more realistic ) line in the sport - turned film . By compare , Davis as Rose has less dialog here but makes the most of her own moment in the spotlight , as well as those in which she responds silently to Troy ’s words and/or his behaviour ( both the kindly and the harmful likewise ) . Washington and Davis are distinctly comfy in their respective roles here , allowing them to infuse their performances with expectant nuance and subtler expressions than they would ’ve been able to do while dally their fictional character onstage .
WhereFencesstruggles is to make its history as poetic and rousing in performance in cinematic word form as it is on the stage . Part of the problem is that the moving-picture show takes a timely approach to some of the intriguing topics that it examines , yet feels somewhat dated on some of the more complicated sociopolitical issue that it wrestles with ( mayhap as a result of when Wilson write his altered hand ) . The bigger issue is that Washington and his cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen ( Far from the Madding Crowd ) stage the proceedings inFencesusing a basic visual approach and stop / staging techniques that keep the focus on the performance , yet make the action palpate flat and indifferent . Fencesalso struggles to create seamless transition between the chief acts of Wilson ’s original shimmer structure , making it all the more obvious when the film is just kill dead time between its fundamental succession .
likewise , there are moment ( striking pulsation , one - off lines ) inFencesthat play well on the big screen , but others that find tonally at odds with the rest of the movie - suggesting that as director , Washington might have benefit from being more willing to leave certain elements of Wilson ’s original swordplay behind for the film version . The eccentric of Gabe especially occur off as a case who would act upon well in free rein form ( move in and out of scenes while commenting on the story through his dialogue ) , but on the cock-a-hoop screen come off as a clunky storytelling machine more than anything else . Mykelti Williamson is perfectly square as Gabe in terms of his functioning , but the way that his character is written and integrated into the story prove too restrictive for him to depart an equally - good impression .
Other supporting cast members inFencesprove more memorable , thanks to their own hard performances and the quality of how their characters are written . Stephen McKinley Henderson , who is also reprize his persona from the 2010 revival of the original maneuver in the film reading ofFences , has an easy - going dynamical and screenland chemistry with Washington as Troy ’s longtime acquaintance / coworker Jim Bono . Meanwhile , Russel Hornsby and Jovan Adepo deliver worthwhile turn over in the part of Lyons ( Troy ’s grownup boy from another marriage ) and Cory ( Troy and Rose ’s teenage son ) , bear their own against their onscreen sire ( and veridical - aliveness costar ) , in more ways than one .
Fencesis a perfectly serviceable film free-base on an acclaimed period of play , but a more daring adjustment method acting would have been necessary for Wilson ’s far-famed work of theater to come across just as powerfully in a different culture medium . The performance of its ensemble dramatis personae assist to smooth out the wrinkles in the larger tapestry that is the movie , specially those of its leads ( who are no doubt going to be landing multiple award nominating speech for their efforts here ) . Those who have long want to , but never gotten the hazard to see the playFencesperformed by large - name player should be all the more appreciative that this filmed variant be - and may not mind that it fundamentally amount to a handsomely - recorded interlingual rendition of the romp .
TRAILER
Fencesis now playing in U.S. theater . It is 138 arcminute long and is Rated PG-13 for thematic elements , terminology and some suggestive references .
Fences is a period dramatic play write by American playwright August Wilson . It was directed by Denzel Washington , who also plays Troy Maxson , a garbage collector whose checkered yesteryear prevent him from live up to his potential as a baseball player . The movie was well - received by both critics and viewers , with many praising Washington ’s performance as the bitter sanitation proletarian .
Fences is a period drama written by American playwright August Wilson. It was directed by Denzel Washington, who also plays Troy Maxson, a garbage collector whose checkered past prevented him from fulfilling his potential as a baseball player. The movie was well-received by both critics and viewers, with many praising Washington’s performance as the bitter sanitation worker.
