Fences is a 1983 August Wilson play that's received endless amounts of acclaim over the decades which has included a Pulitzer Prize. Both Denzel Washington and Viola Davis starred in a stage production of the show back in 2010 and now the two (as well as several other cast members of that particular rendition of the program) reprise their roles for a feature film adaptation. Fences keeps things nice and simple in terms of overall story, though the characters within are more complex than you might suspect. It's mostly about Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) trying to keep a roof over his families head while dealing with all kinds of personal strife, including a fractured relationship with his youngest son.
Within that premise is numerous extended dialogue-driven sequences that allow both the actors and August Wilson's written word to shine and both elements certainly do show up in top form. Denzel Washington really is just one of the more naturalistic actors out there and the way he handles Troy's gradual decline from a "Father Knows Best" type figure into the more deeply flawed human being that was there all along is a definitive showcase for Washington's expertise in his field of choice. Plus, he handles these numerous extended monologues from August Wilson's writing that have his character spinning a yarn in a most entertaining way, you can totally get why the other characters in the story would be so enraptured by the way Troy talks about situations like the time he ran into death itself by the way charismatic way Washington executes these monologues.
The real star of the show may be Viola Davis as Rose, Troy's wife, a devoted woman who tries to remain strong in the face of imposing incongruity created by her husband. Davis and Washington come off as very realistic in their chemistry, which is delightful to see, but it's when Davis is given the chance to go to town on a monologue is when she really shines. There is so much pain, so much strife hiding underneath Rose and when Davis brings it to the surface, it's heartbreaking to witness. She can command your entire attention just by her body language when she's standing in the background of certain scenes and that's of course even moreso true in the sequences where she's the actor the camera completely focuses on.
In supporting roles, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Mykelti Williamson turn in notable performances, with Williamson able to make his character (Troy's brother who sustained an injury in World War II that left him mentally unstable) not the one-note caricature it could have easily turned into. Not quite as successful as the array of the performances in the film are some of the editing and visual choices chosen throughout Fences, which sometimes feel at odds with the restrained atmosphere of the story and dialogue. There's an odd habit within this film to cut away during big speeches or extended conversations instead of just delivering the dialogue in single takes or doing less abrasive cuts to new shots.
That kind of editing feels like it's imperiling the rhythm of the strongly written August Wilson-penned dialogue, and there's a couple of similarly ill-suited instances of overly obvious imagery (like the camera following a rose falling from Viola Davis's hand after she's dealt an emotional blow) that, like these poorer instances from the editing, don't gel with the rest of Fences. Thankfully, Fences predominately aims to go for a more subdued atmosphere that allows the dialogue and actors to flourish to frequently riveting results. Hell, the performance given by Viola Davis is worth the price of admission alone!
The real star of the show may be Viola Davis as Rose, Troy's wife, a devoted woman who tries to remain strong in the face of imposing incongruity created by her husband. Davis and Washington come off as very realistic in their chemistry, which is delightful to see, but it's when Davis is given the chance to go to town on a monologue is when she really shines. There is so much pain, so much strife hiding underneath Rose and when Davis brings it to the surface, it's heartbreaking to witness. She can command your entire attention just by her body language when she's standing in the background of certain scenes and that's of course even moreso true in the sequences where she's the actor the camera completely focuses on.
In supporting roles, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Mykelti Williamson turn in notable performances, with Williamson able to make his character (Troy's brother who sustained an injury in World War II that left him mentally unstable) not the one-note caricature it could have easily turned into. Not quite as successful as the array of the performances in the film are some of the editing and visual choices chosen throughout Fences, which sometimes feel at odds with the restrained atmosphere of the story and dialogue. There's an odd habit within this film to cut away during big speeches or extended conversations instead of just delivering the dialogue in single takes or doing less abrasive cuts to new shots.
That kind of editing feels like it's imperiling the rhythm of the strongly written August Wilson-penned dialogue, and there's a couple of similarly ill-suited instances of overly obvious imagery (like the camera following a rose falling from Viola Davis's hand after she's dealt an emotional blow) that, like these poorer instances from the editing, don't gel with the rest of Fences. Thankfully, Fences predominately aims to go for a more subdued atmosphere that allows the dialogue and actors to flourish to frequently riveting results. Hell, the performance given by Viola Davis is worth the price of admission alone!
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