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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Fences
Quote: Fences is a 2016 drama film directed by Denzel Washington and written by August Wilson, based on his play of the same name. The film stars Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney.
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:50 pm |
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am Posts: 14551 Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Fences
It's really good and worth seeing for the powerhouse performances across the board. Denzel Washington is a total force to be reckoned with here and his character is fascinating, and Viola Davis is absolutely fantastic as his long-suffering wife - getting what are probably the movie's meatiest scenes and monologues. The supporting cast is also strong. However, you should go into it basically knowing it's essentially a filmed version of the play. This is the stagiest movie I've ever seen - it almost doesn't even feel like a film at all. Each scene is like 15-20 minutes long and plays out on one of about five sets total. I wish they could have done more with the direction and staging here and opened it up a little bit. However, the dialogue is mostly riveting and tackles some complex and fascinating issues, and the performances are out of this world and the main reason to see it. B
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:56 pm |
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SolC9
Forum General
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:11 pm Posts: 7174 Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Fences
I saw this last night. I'm a little surprised Mykelti Williamson isn't getting more notice for his supporting performance. He's just as great as Denzel and Viola in this. The acting and script are definitely the reasons to see this movie. 3.5/5
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Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:50 am |
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Libs
Sbil
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 3:38 pm Posts: 48662 Location: Arlington, VA
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Re: Fences
Denzel Washington and Viola Davis give two of the best performances of this year, or even the last several years. Fences is powerfully composed by Washington and he has his meatiest film role arguably since Training Day. He is also content to let Davis take front and center during several opportunities. It's an acting showcase through and through with its stagey unfolding (unsurprising given the source material). A-
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Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:16 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Fences
A drama of father-son rivalry, flawed masculinity, and race relations in 1950s Pittsburgh, Fences is adapted from a Tony Award-winning play by the late August Wilson. Denzel Washington both directs and stars as Troy, a former criminal who briefly found glory as a baseball player only to lose it and become a resentful laborer with two sons by two women, one his stoic wife Rose (Viola Davis). Washington the director exhibits almost no flair or imagination in adapting a stage play for another medium. Scenes run long, longer than they need to in a film. 90 to 95 percent of the action unfolds in one location—the rear of Troy's house, where he is slowly building a fence—and it feels as artificial and insular as, say, a classroom in Saved by the Bell. When a peripheral character enters the action, there is a strong sense he or she is simply racing in from behind the stage curtain (or camera as it were), not from football practice at the high school or the hospital or any other referenced-but-never-shown location. Fortunately, Washington the actor delivers a fiery, highly committed, and often unpredictable performance long on charisma and rage, and he is complemented perfectly by Davis as his staunch, compassionate, and long-suffering wife. And ultimately the text is a rich and complex one, and the depth of the themes coupled with the authenticity of the words and the dexterity of the performers triumphs over the fairly unimaginative visual and aural presentation.
B
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:49 am |
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Dil
Forum General
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm Posts: 8942 Location: Houston, Texas
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Re: Fences
It's a good film, but I'm disappointed that it won't make it into my top 10 of year. The performances across the board are fantastic especially Washington, Davis and Williamson, but the direction of this film felt so flat. Like most have said it's pretty much a play disguised as a film and so many scenes in this feel staged. The whole first act was actually jarring to me because of it eventhough the acting is so good and the dialogue is so well written.
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Wed Jan 04, 2017 3:43 am |
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Jack Sparrow
KJ's Leading Idiot
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:15 pm Posts: 36926
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Re: Fences
This has the performances it promised but it feels too staged that it never feels like things happening in real life. Denzel as a director adds nothing to this but he is great on screen. Davis is just brilliant and should have won this award in the leading category, she gets easily the best scenes of the movie and lights up the screen every time she enters. The supporting cast is great specially Williamson but their roles are too small specially against the two leads its understandable why they were not noticed as much. Lots of things are discussed but only the central story leaves impact and I didn't totally buy the death-made-him-good part in the end.
B-
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Wed Jan 27, 2021 3:17 am |
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Shack
Devil's Advocate
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:30 am Posts: 38886
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Re: Fences
Denzel has to give one of his best performances is an extremely complicated/flawed character in Troy and possibly deserved Casey's Oscar, and Davis supporting actress win is deserved as well. I'm ok with the low key direction though I wish they gave more of a sense of the progress of the fence being built and completed, I didn't even really notice it was finished in the last scene. Ultimately with all due respect to the original award winning play the father/son argument has been done in other plays like Death of a Salesman and others, plus I felt like it may have been a more interesting fight if he was going at it with the music playing son the whole film and calling him a failure instead of the athletic high schooler. So the plotline that hit hardest for me was him knocking up the other woman and also gave Washington and Davis their best material, she almost made me cry in that scene. The supporting actors did well to not get blown off the screen with Stephen Henderson as the friend playing his part perfectly. Overall very good.
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Fri May 07, 2021 10:36 pm |
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