My love for the play Fences by August Wilson goes all the way back to 10th grade. I remember always being an act ahead of the class as I quickly fell in love with Wilson’s hard hitting story of a family in the 1950s and the heartbreaking dialogue between the characters. As I finished Fences, I dreamed that I would someday get to see this tale of a broken family dream on stage. Unfortunately, the play never came to Boston (or at least I never heard of it being put on in the Boston area), so when I heard that actor Denzel Washington was going to be directing and starring in a film adaption, I got pretty excited, but had my worries. How would they adapt such a dialogue-driven stage show that could easily come off as dull on screen? Would audiences even know it was a play to begin with and thus leave the theater bored out of their mind? Fortunately, Fences surprised me by how well it worked on screen, even with a couple of faults that can’t be ignored.

Set predominately in the backyard of our main characters in the 1950s, Fences tells the story of Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington), a trash man who works hard to make sure that his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and his teenage son Corey (Jovan Adepo) have what they need to get by. Through down-to-earth, conversational dialogue with numerous characters, including his best friend Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson), his PTSD-damaged brother Gab (Mykelti Williamson), and his older son Lyons (Russell Hornsby), Troy exposes his demons, his haunting past, and the deep and profound race issues that plague the country. Unsurprisingly, the best part of Fences is the acting, with every actor being pitch perfect in their role. It helps that Washington and Davis both played their respective film roles on stage during the 2010 revival on Broadway. If there’s anything to take away from this film, its just how good Washington and Davis are at creating cringe inducing, awkwardly realistic interactions between each other, both deserving the obviously-going-to-be-nominated Oscar. Rounding out the cast are an emotional performance of Cory by Adepo and the constantly heartbreaking yet humorous role of Gab by Williamson. Washington and Davis are in good company with some of the best supporting cast they could get.

Unfortunately, with a picture-perfect cast and an amazing script ripped right from the equally amazing play, Fences still has the same issues of translation from stage to screen that plague many play-to-film adaptations. Instead of translating Fences as a film, Washington films it just like it was a play: so many close-ups and way too many singular shots of dialogue. While a scene full of nothing but dialogue for over 45 minutes works on stage, it might not work on film, especially with Washington’s at times uninspired direction. While Washington is fully competent as Troy (he’s easily in my top 3 performances this year) the same can’t be said with his directorial style. So many emotional points of the film are ruined by too many awkward angles and repetitive shots that, unfortunately, take me out of the film. I swear, there were shots reused in the film, or which at least looked the same. I understand that it takes place in a singular location, but a film like 10 Cloverfield Lane, which also takes place in a singular location, has more diversity in the direction than this. While not bad, the bland direction is obvious, even moreso in the second half, after the “intermission” of sorts. Luckily, this doesn’t take away from his skill of directing an individual, and I commend Washington for bringing out so much emotion in himself and his fellow cast members.

Still, as a huge fan of the source material, I walked out of Fences super pleased with the final product, glad that Washington decided to film and release this underrated play to the masses. The great thing about Fences is that, while I do have problems with it, the good easily outweighs the bad, and makes Denzel Washington’s Fences a worthy adaption. Even if it’s a bit too long and muddled at times, the amazing dialogue and acting by everyone involved is stunning and will surely be a reason why Fences will be a heavyweight at the Oscars. While it might not be the definitive way of viewing the play or not as effective as reading it, it’s still a great way to expose yourself to August Wilson. If you’re looking for a great character driven story, give Fences a shot!

Fences
2016
dir. Denzel Washington
139 min

Now playing at Kendall Square Cinema and elsewhere