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<\/a><\/p>\nFences<\/strong><\/p>\n Fences is probably an extremely good play. I never saw it on the stage, either on its first run in 1987, or its 2010 production with Washington and Viola Davis. It won a slew of awards in the eighties though, and watching the movie, I can sense its power. But original author August Wilson died in 2005 and Tony Kushner (discreetly taking only a producer credit) has reverentially adapted it for the screen, while Denzel Washington directs himself in the leading part.<\/p>\n From the opening scenes, something is off. Troy Maxson (Washington) and buddy Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson) shoot the shit, first riding around on the back of their garbage truck, later with Maxson\u2019s wife Rose (Davis). Their dialogue is full of non-sequiturs, half-sentences and interruptions, but the rhythms are practised, mannered and artificial. Part of the problem is that Washington is such an articulate and literate actor that, in these early scenes, Troy\u2019s storytelling never convinces as the imagination of a salt-of-the-earth working man. The fourth wall becomes a narrow slit through which we glimpse real humans only occasionally, through a mesh of stylised language and pseudo-authentic banter.<\/p>\n The story takes its time to get going as well, but as it does, the depths of Troy\u2019s character are revealed and the movie begins to evade its stagey origins. An early speech from Troy to his son in which he is lectured about the importance of duty sets up just how selfish and hypocritical this man truly is. Washington has never had any compunction about playing morally flawed characters, but Troy Maxson must be the most compromised of all his creations, constantly screwing over the people around him, while angrily denouncing the injustices which life metes out to him.<\/p>\n Despite this, the fog of artificiality never really goes away and among the very small cast (one major character is never seen at all) Mykelti Williamson as Troy\u2019s brain-damaged brother in particular fails to convince. One key problem is that not only has Kushner been unable or unwilling to open the play out in any useful way, but as director Washington often frames the shots awkwardly and almost never finds ways of telling the story visually. Even the fence of the title is much more often talked about than seen, to the point where each repetition clangs more absurdly than the last.<\/p>\n However, as the human drama builds, the film slowly starts to weave its spell, and when Troy has to tell his wife the worst news she\u2019s ever heard, Washington just points the camera at Viola Davis and lets her fall apart. It\u2019s an incredible piece of acting, a shattering moment in the story and there can\u2019t be many actors alive who could have pulled it off.<\/p>\n The last episode in the film belongs to Jovan Adepo, as Troy\u2019s son Cory. This young British\/American actor had been extremely solid bouncing off Washington earlier, but he is completely convincing in these final fifteen minutes, and if it weren\u2019t for Davis\u2019s barnstorming performance, would have been the MVP for sure.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a shame then that such quality material has been handled with such clumsy reverence. Washington is good when he\u2019s good, but he\u2019s been better on-screen many times before, and as director it feels like he\u2019s out of his depth. However, Viola Davis is absolutely sensational and her grip on the Best Actress Oscar is now iron-clad.<\/p>\n
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