Fences (2016): Review
Denzel Washington’s Fences is a full blown emotional onslaught. Taking on the life of a middle-aged man struggling with the conundrum he has found himself in, Washington finds beauty in simplicity. With powerful performances from both Viola Davis and Denzel Washington, Fences still manages to lack a cinematic intention needed to justify its existence as an adaption.
Fences revolves around Troy Maxon (Denzel Washington), a middle-aged African-American man living in the U.S. during the 1950’s. Fences tells the story of Troy, and his wife Rose Maxon (Viola Davis), and the struggles that the two must endure in times of difficulty. Not only the struggles as a couple, but the confrontations that Troy has with his son, the regret Troy feels of opportunities he’s missed out on, as well as managing the scandals of an affair he couldn’t avoid. The plot of the film is rather minimal, merely centering around the lives of Troy and Rose.
The first and clearly most strangling aspect of the film is the performances. The energy that is shared between Washington and Davis is immaculate. The almost dance that the two share when on screen together, is such a joy to watch. Not only do Davis and Washington make us smile at how perfect their relationship seems to be at first, but they also make us cry with laughter. Tackling the vocabulary filled script of August Wilson, we forget that we are watching a film. Our disbelief is not only suspended further than normal, but we literally feel like we are just watching these two characters interact. Almost as if we are in the scenes with them, whether that be in the house or in the backyard. The two flow, and execute on Wilson’s script with ease and perfection. In terms of direction, Washington keeps it simple with the technicality of it all. The camera movements are minimal, and nothing fancy is really done with the lighting or editing. He keeps the entire focus of the film on the performances and the content.
Fences does suffer a small amount of stage-to-screen anxiety. Fences was a play written by August Wilson in 1983, and despite his death in 2005 he is still given screenplay credit. The film doesn’t suffer this anxiety due to content, but rather with the runtime. It almost feels like Washington just did a copy and paste of Wilson’s play, and the entire film is just several different scenarios of our characters talking. At first, discussions center around useless topics but as the film progresses we approach the core of the conflict. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the content is bad or sour, but when a film is as one dimensional as Fences, it’s hard to ignore this. Even with such a star-studded cast that executes on the level of perfection, it’s difficult to get through some of these scenes.
Fences is an intimate, powerful, drama piece. Washington not only adapts Wilson’s classic play, but creates a whole new meaning to connecting with his characters. With immaculate performances from both Washington and Davis, the film somehow still misses the mark of a great adaption. Fences delivers a lot of heavy punches, filled with emotion and power, but ultimately fails in bringing a cinematic voice to the beloved play.
