Fences Review

Fences is a film adaption of a play by the same name. The film stars Denzel Washington, who also directed it. Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) makes his living as a sanitation worker in 1950s Pittsburgh. Troy dreamed of being a professional baseball player, but was deemed too old by the league when they started accepting black athletes into the sport sport. Troy lives in a very simple house with his wife Rose Maxson (Viola Davis) and teenage son Cory Maxson (Jovan Adepo).

The film follows Troy who is bitter with himself and full of self loathing. Troy’s home life is rocky at the best of times. He constantly fights with his wife and son. He’s in a tough place at work, the works getting harder and he isn’t getting any younger. He makes a couple comments about some of these aspects and now must deal with the union. Troy creates further tension in his home when his son Cory tells him that a football recruiter is looking to sign him, he just needs to sign the permission slip; but instead rips it apart.

Things start looking up for Troy and his family. Doing better at work, getting along and being happy with his wife, son, and friends. Suddenly, it all comes tumbling down when Troy makes a grave mistake which greatly destroys his life as he knows it.

Fences has a strong emotional feel to it, makes you feel everything from sharing the joy with the actors to the anger that’s portrayed through the film to the agonizing sadness they feel. It stays true to the source material but feels more episodic than an actual full movie. I felt like the movie could’ve been put together a little better.

Denzel Washington did an excellent job directing and starring in the film. He really brought out the emotional aspects of the character portraying the self-loathing individual well. The chemistry between Denzel, Viola, and Jovan was good, it fell right into the timeline of the movie, actors at their finest.

The Conclusion

While Fences is a deep and emotional movie with a few good messages to it I felt it didn't entirely come together in a satisfying way. It was mostly enjoyable, but lacked entertainment really just being an emotional film and while it was decent I wouldn't say it's anything to write home about.

Fences Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by Paramount

Rating Overall: 6.3