I really love Denzel Washington but i didnt like this movie at all, im sure people will tell me all the reasons why they think its great well good for you, but i got bored to death by it. Long takes nothing really happening all talk, totally not a movie that Denzel Washington is known for. Might be on me expecting an interesting movie.
"Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in".
'Fences' is what I call an "actors movie". Great acting all round, good story, and a easy straight forward narrative. Other than that, it falls flat. Denzel directing is bland and the film has a lot of pacing issues, as I felt the runtime. Of course this was based on a stage play and it sure feels like it even watching it. Because every monologue has to be shout and be big like a stage performance, but at the same time fits certain characters. Kind of a mix bag really.
You could say the main goal was to make it look and feel like a play. I mean, many movies have done it, but did it so much better. It got pretty repetitive after awhile and has a rusty flow.
While a movie adaption of 'Fences' wasn't really needed, but it's the performances and story that keeps things a float. Honestly, this is some of the best I've seen from Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Both delivering powerhouse and unstoppable performances. It doesn't shy away from dark themes and I know a lot of people will be uncomfortable, but moved of what's be presented.
Just to be clear, I don't hate the movie, as it may seem. There's a lot to be liked and some may disagree with the points I brought up, which is totally fine.
To be honest I don't agree with some of the other comments, plays are by their structure dialogue heavy, they carry emotion; the actors carry the weight in their reactions, their tone, their performance. This film with no doubt in my mind carries all that to the screen. The performances by Viola and Denzel were perfect, without a doubt carrying forward the stage cast gave the film the depth which could have easily been lost.
Fences doesn't translate to film as well as you expect. All the performances are spot on and I understand all the praise they have gotten but the film they are in gets a little too long and the dialogue gets a little to excessive. If Denzel wins Best Actor and Viola Davis wins Best Supporting Actress then it would be totally deserved. They carry the film and the film would be quite dull without them.
Why is it when Denzel is in a movie he NEVER disappoints. He is in a league of his own. Viola is quickly becoming the same.
A great cast, but quite boring and way too wordy (that a word?) sorry to say. Indeed sometimes plays do not work well as movies. I attempted twice to finish and fell asleep both times. Oh well Denzel, you can't win them all.
Well done Mr. Washington.
Well done Viola.
I have always been a die hard Denzel fan and he never lets me down, however despite great acting, I felt like this one lacked content. Very little climax with a lackluster ending.
Can't quite escape its stage origins, but the film does exude a quiet power. A fine acting showcase too.
From the other comments I can see it is a controversial movie. I was about an hour into the it when I decided to stop. I can not remember ever having seen a movie with that much dialogue and so little content. For me it was total overkill. I could not make out any sense in the story and was discouraged by the endless dialogue to continue to find out.
I Didn't find it that good as the critics say, it's too long for that type of story. And I really hated that Troy, he was annoying and speak too much. It's an excellent performance from Washington but I just hated the character. And what makes the movie is actually that, the performances of Davis and Washington, remove that and all you have is a dull movie.
Go on and get that Oscar, Miss Viola. Get. It.
Powerfully performances from all the cast
Yeah, really interesting film here. It has a realistic feel to it. Like you're just friends with a man and watch the rest of his story. That's basically this movie. It feels like natural conversations. However I agree that it is too wordy and Troy always has such a backwards way of talking that was frustrating to me. Overall, if you enjoy simpler stories with lots of talk this will be for you 8/10
An amazing performance from all the actors which they played their parts incredibly well!
The movie is much more drama-oriented than I initially expected, but an amazing movie nonetheless
I have seen many movies -> this is the one i enjoyed the least out of all of them
1/10
Viola Davis is without doubts ine of the best actresses of this age. She gives an outstanding performance. Sadly it is the only outstanding thing. It is a play and Denzel Washington didn't make it a film. I liked Jovan Adepo's acting too.
I cannot believe that Viola regrets doing The Help because it doesn't do black people justice but she is OK with this role of the suffering woman taking all her husband's rage.
Thís is a Denzel and Viola spetacle!
It's a family drama life lesson that ressonantes very high.
Very good!
Fences is a hugely successful stage-play and this film mainly features the cast from that play. Bearing that in mind and bearing in mind that August Wilson was trying to show a slice of life for working-class black families in the sixties you are not going to get much ‘action’ or anything the average cinema-goer would see as exciting. Denzel Washington and his ensemble must have slipped into their roles like familiar slippers. It shows.
Viola Davies and the rest of the cast are consummate actors so you know you are in some safe hands if nothing else. The film has one actor that the stage play didn’t have though and that is the city of Pittsburgh which is where Washington filmed this adaptation and if nothing else it helps to layer on the realism.
Being a silly old man from Hampshire I cannot vouch for the language, slang and nuances of the script in relation to 1950s Pittsburgh but the language and conversations seemed real to me. In my opinion, working-class people from that era with a limited access to good education probably could not express themselves quite so clearly and if my grand-dad was anything to go by they did talk as much and feelings were never discussed. Mind you if you made a film that realistic, it would be very short and very boring, so it is not any sort of criticism.
The small situations, battles and dilemmas the family finds themselves in seem real and in all honesty, they could easily have been set in any city and with any family of any creed. I feel Wilson wanted the story to be universal and feel relevant to anyone regardless of skin colour or ethnicity anyone whose family was poor and had to work really hard for every penny can take something from it.
Certainly, they are many people who can recall a wife, a tour-de-force by Viola Davies, who through some strong sense of loyalty and what is right stands by her man despite him doing many things that don’t deserve that loyalty. The film does not pontificate, no one says this 'this right' rather its just how it is and how she feels. The roles of Maxson’s two sons are ably filled by Hornsby and non-cast regular Adepo. Mykelti Williamson plays the very difficult role of Gabriel’s brother who suffered a severe head wound in the war, in the wrong hands this could easily be comedic and finally Stephen Henderson is a stand-out as Maxson’s long-time and loyal friend who tries to keep his friend on the straight and narrow. It’s all good.
You do have to bear in mind this is a near-direct transfer of a successful stage play to the screen. It is going to be talky and the players are going to have to-and-fro dialogue zipping between them. Its main weakness is probably that it does seem ‘stagey’ at times and if you do not like watching stage plays then you will probably not like this.
I did.
Good movie with some extraodinary acting perfomances..But man seriously i got really tired too much talking,wayyy long dialogues which made me bored in some points..
"Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in".
'Fences' is what I call an "actors movie". Great acting all round, good story, and a easy straight forward narrative. Other than that, it falls flat. Denzel directing is bland and the film has a lot of pacing issues, as I felt the runtime. Of course this was based on a stage play and it sure feels like it even watching it. Because every monologue has to be shout and be big like a stage performance, but at the same time fits certain characters. Kind of a mix bag really.
You could say the main goal was to make it look and feel like a play. I mean, many movies have done it, but did it so much better. It got pretty repetitive after awhile and has a rusty flow.
While a movie adaption of 'Fences' wasn't really needed, but it's the performances and story that keeps things a float. Honestly, this is some of the best I've seen from Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Both delivering powerhouse and unstoppable performances. It doesn't shy away from dark themes and I know a lot of people will be uncomfortable, but moved of what's be presented.
Just to be clear, I don't hate the movie, as it may seem. There's a lot to be liked and some may disagree with the points I brought up, which is totally fine.
I really enjoyed this movie.
I have to say that Denzel Washington put me a bit ill at ease.
Viola Davis on the other hand played her part brilliantly!
Outstanding performances. Heartbreaking story. Suffers a bit from clearly being a stage play, but the themes and acting are mesmerizing enough to forget all that and get lost in the story.
The story was not designed to appeal to blokes such as I and there were far too many baseball references for a Brit. Apart from that, I found the film over-long and Denzel had Oscars in his eyes so badly that his performance became distracting. Fortunately, Viola Davis was content to remain simply sublime.
Outstanding performance by actors, especially by Denzel and Viola!
Pretty good film, but the scenes are so long and characters talk for so long without stopping that it's just mentally exhausting
This is nominated for 4 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Denzel Washington), Best Supporting Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Adapted Screenplay. There was enough of the original play left in the movie, to see why it would work so well on the stage. It reminded me of the great scripts of the American playwrights, like Arthur Miller's All My Son's. Great writing, fast paced dialogue, family themes and tragedy, reflecting period Americana. But what might be classic theatre didn't translate to exceptional cinema, for me. Out of 10 I give it an 8 (great for its echoes of the stage), but the story didn't resonate for me. I understood the father's internal logic, but could not see either a hero or an anti-hero, just a tragedy. I can, however, see how it may have resonated for others who see a shared experience, or, who are more closely tied to the culture. No Oscar winners here, for me.
The world class performance that you crave for
Shout by WiseBlockedParent2017-07-12T06:08:35Z
Good performances aren't holy. They can't mend to a cliché, long, boring story. My vote is only sustained by Viola Davis, who was outstandingly good. Not her fault the rest... simply isn't there.