Fences

It’s difficult to convey why “Fences” is so captivating without showing it to you. You’ll find yourself gripped by its excellent performances and human story. The dialogue is so good you want to go back, study the screenplay and memorize every word.

Some fences are built to keep others out. Some fences are built to keep people in. In 1950’s Pittsburg, Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) has been building fences around his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and his two sons, Cory (Jovan Adepo) and Lyons (Russell Hornsby) for years.

These characters are complex and so real it plays tennis with your heart. Denzel Washington is expertly playing a mean black father. He’s not necessarily cruel or unfair… it’s that he’s this complex mix. At times he’s so charismatic you love him. Then he’ll turn around and say this one little thing and you can tell that it cuts deep into the hearts of the people around him. He’s like a best friend that does something sour. Do you hold that against him, therefore ignoring all the good he’s done before? The way it's written, you know what’s happening here has been building for years. It’s all about to reach a boiling point, but what’s going to happen?

I know there’s temptation from actors to be cast in “good” roles. If you’re the charismatic hero that gets the girl, people will leave the theater smiling and audiences will become fans. The performances in “Fences” are chancey ones. Washington (who also directs) and Davis are not afraid to look happy and attractive one moment and then to look defeated, frightening or even old the next. Just when you think you’ve got someone figured out, they’ll do something with their face that will make you reconsider everything. When Davis cries here, she REALLY cries. It’s messy and heartbreaking, the opposite of that sexy cry, single tear thing we so often see in would-be dramas.

Initially, I felt that the ending was a tad long ("Fences” clocks at 139 minutes) but I’m not bothered by it enough to hold it against the film. Washington is so good here that anytime he’s not on-screen you miss him but it’s the right move to focus on the rest of Troy’s family too. A skilled director knows to step away from the spotlight and let the story move.

You could go on endlessly about the “Fences’” characters. The things they say vs. the things they do, how they fit together, how you will relate to them. Even if the performances weren’t as good as they are here (and I think they’re good enough that some awards might get tossed their way) this would be a great film. “Fences” is one of the best pictures of the year. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 27, 2016)