Fences Movie Review & Film Summary (2016) | Roger Ebert

Every payday, garbage collector Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) holds court in the backyard of the Pittsburgh home he shares with his wife, Rose (Viola Davis) and their son, Cory (Jovan Adepo). By Troys side are his two best friends, Bono (Stephen Henderson), the co-worker hes known for decades, and a bottle of gin, which Troy has also known for decades. Both are very good listeners, and theres nothing Troy enjoys more than a captive audience. When his tales spin too wildly into fictionat one point, Troy reminisces about wrestling with Death itselfRose steps outside to playfully call him on his nonsense. Troy cuddles with her, tossing the raunchiest dialogue he has to offer in her direction. As the evening progresses, Troy is sometimes joined by his eldest son, Lyons (Russell Hornsby), who borrows money, or his disabled war veteran brother, Gabe (Mykelti Williamson), who has just moved from Troys home in a defiant display of his independence. Life is a series of routines culminating in death. Every payday brings Troy Maxson closer to his wrestling partner.

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This repeated scenario forms the basis of August Wilsons Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences. 29 years after its Broadway premiere, Fences arrives in theaters courtesy of a screenplay by the late playwright himself. With two Pulitzer Prizes and his ten-play magnum opus, The Pittsburgh Cycle, (of which Fences is the sixth work), Wilson takes his rightful place alongside Eugene ONeill, Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams as one of the greatest American playwrights. The focus of Wilsons cycle is African-American life across the entire 20th century, with each play taking place in a particular decade. Fences is set in the 1950s, but the timeframe does not date the material. Its universal themes supersede any of its societal details, though based on this years election cycle, viewers may be stunned to discover that the American working class is more than just Midwestern and White.

Wilsons plays are rich, poetic, wordy affairs tinged with music, the magical nature of myth, and symbolic elements that work extremely well as live theater. Since theater is an intimate medium, the general consensus on translating plays to screen is to open up the play, which quite often destroys the natural fabric of the work. The masterful thing about Denzel Washingtons direction here is that he doesnt exactly open up the play. Instead, he opens up the visual frame around the players. He and cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen use the entire screen to occasionally dwarf the characters inside the backyard setting where much of the film takes place. At other times, tight framing gives an air of claustrophobia thats almost suffocating. Throughout, theres clear evidence that careful thought has been put into the quiet visual architecture of this film; there are several visual motifs that support the themes in Wilsons words, and not once does a character seem to be in the wrong spot. For example, a scene between Bono and Troy, where Bono warns Troy of impending ruination, places the actors in the bottom right of the frame while rubble and an empty field symbolically take up most of the screen.

Most importantly, Washington as director knows that the biggest star in this film is its writing. When a film has actors this committed to speaking their lines, to the point where it seems they are turning themselves inside out with anguish, the camera is always exactly where it needs to beit iswith them, listening as intently as we in the audience are. This type of direction is a lost art nowadays, evoking a prior time when masters like Billy Wilder and Sidney Lumet plied their trades. In fact, it was Wilder who eschewed the notion that ostentatious, flashy direction was what made for great drama, saying that if something were said to be well-directed, that is proof that it is not. Washington understands this, and Fences is much more powerful for his devotion to his actors craft. When Viola Davis is showing you how hard her heart is breaking, the camera doesnt need to be competing for your attention.

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Fences imports most of the cast of its Tony-winning 2010 revival (which I have seen). In addition to Washington and Davis, who won Tonys for lead acting, Henderson, Hornby and Williamson also reprise their roles. Their familiarity with the characters translates into a slew of excellent performances. Williamson has the trickiest role: his war-damaged Gabriel is the plays most theatric and symbolic character. A man with a metal plate in his head, whose government disability check allowed Troy to buy his house, Gabriel thinks hes the messenger of God described as a trumpet player in many Negro spirituals. Williamson humanizes this character by playing his delusions without mockery. He believes in his convictions, and as the last scene of the film indicates, he might not be wrong.

Wilsons common theme of legacy fuels Fences in the guise of Troys relationship with Cory. Cory has the opportunity to get a college scholarship for his football skills, but Troy is against this primarily because of his own failed sports dreams. Troy was a great baseball player in the Negro Leagues, but this was well before Jackie Robinson (whom Troy despises), so Troy never realized his dreams of major league glory. Its not lost on us that Troy is denied success in what is commonly called Americas Pastime; baseball serves as the perfect metaphor for the American Dream. Like the America of Troys time, it was segregated and demanded that Blacks knew their place. For most fathers, knowing their son wishes to follow in his footsteps would be a happy occasion, especially in sports and even more so if ones legacy might be extended or surpassed. Yet Troys brutal pig-headedness drives an irredeemable wedge between the two. In his big confrontation scene, newcomer Adepo goes toe-to-toe with his scene-stealing director and almost upstages him.

As Troy, Washington has a role tailor-made for all his Denzel-isms. Whereas Troys brilliant originator, James Earl Jones, kept an open vein of terror flowing through his performance, Washington smothers his dark side with a charm thats as sticky as flypaper. He makes it easy to see why Rose would fall for himand stay with him besides the obvious reason that society demanded a woman have a husband. Fences gives Troy mountains of dialogue to climb, and the fast-talking Washington leaps over it, catering it to his familiar manner of speaking. Troys use of the N-word is particularly of interest. That Troy would say the word is not surprising for the timeframe, but Washington spins it differently depending on the recipient. With Bono, its a term of endearment, which Bono returns just as easily. But in the famous speech that takes up Act 1, Scene 3, when Troy levels it at Cory (N--ger, as long as you in my house, you put a 'Sir' on the end of it when you talk to me"), he hurls it with the fury of a klansman.

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Not to be outdone, Viola Davis brings her own arsenal of tricks. Nobody cries onscreen like Davis, and if that clip in the trailer affected you, you should be advised that the actual scene is a lot longer and even more devastating. Its so painful, its almost unwatchable. In fact, anyone who had a strict taskmaster as a parent will find parts of Fences unendurable. But Davis Rose is the films barometer, measuring how much we can put up with Troy. She loves him, and she does much to soften his rough edges even when shes pointing out how wrong he is. But once he breaks his contract with her, all bets are off. Troy may be meaner, but a nuclear warhead couldnt melt the ice covering Davis delivery of the line you a womanless man to Troy.

Fences is a film about how our environment shapes us, and how, no matter how noble their intentions, our parents cant help but mess us up in some fashion, just as their parents had done for them. This is our legacy as humans. Either we indoctrinate ourselves against that which we saw as wrong with our parents, or we catch their disease and we pass it on. Washingtons visual repetition of crosses throughout the film, either on the wall or in the chain Rose wears around her neck, is a reminder of the greatest father-son story ever told. This notion is in the script too: perhaps the most brutally honest thing Rose tells Cory near the films end is that hes just like Troy. Especially after Corys speech about how he tried so hard to remove Troys terrifying influence from his soul. Corys acceptance of this truth, represented in his co-opting of the song Troy used to sing, is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful. Whether we want it or not, this is our legacy.

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Fences Movie Review & Film Summary (2016) | Roger Ebert