As a movie, FENCES is a great play. August Wilson’s Tony Award -winner has been brought to the big screen untrimmed, a film that savors the play in every detail. Theater fans will find much to like, while conventional audiences expecting something more cinematic may find it a long 2 ½ hours.
Denzel Washington directs and stars as Troy Maxson, a sanitation worker who rides on the back of a trash truck, his ambition to be the vehicle’s driver (the white guy’s seat). Troy has a major chip on his shoulder and resentments about his life – first a tough upbringing and prison, then later racism and the economic climate of late-1950’s, pre-civil rights Pittsburgh. There he lives with his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and their 17-year old son Cory (Jovan Adepo), who wants to play high school football. The Maxson’s world is a small house with a front porch, a yard and a work-in-progress fence. Here Troy drinks and shoots the breeze with Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson), an old pal he met while doing time who now rides with him on that trash truck. Lyons (Russell Hornsby), Troy’s elder son, from an earlier relationship, is a struggling musician who swings by now and then, usually to borrow money. There is a confession of infidelity, a couple of (off-screen) deaths, and the unexpected arrival of a new family member. The yard mostly serves as a battlefield for Troy to stomp on the ambitions of Cory because his own dreams of being a professional baseball player were thwarted by the color of his skin. Washington gives a lived-in performance as Troy – laborer, former criminal, husband, womanizer, and teller of stories. Troy talks a lot in FENCES – about work, food, money, sex and we learn much about him. While Washington is ferocious in the role, some of Troy’s speeches seem redundant and he is an abrasive and unpleasant character, one tough to spend 2 ½ hours with. Viola Davis as Rose provides the film’s heart and she is the best reason to see FENCES. Her anguish in abuse and betrayal is heartbreaking, but she also has quieter, sweet moments like her interactions with a little angel of a girl named Raynell (Saniyya Sidney) who shows up late in the film to help heal the family. Jovan Adepo as Cory finds some affecting moments as a young man struggling to be understood. Mykelti Williamson plays Troy’s brother Gabriel, brain-damaged by injuries suffered in World War II. While Williamson brings a childlike sweetness whenever he stops by, this fanciful ‘wise fool’ doesn’t ring true, a conceit that may have worked better on stage. FENCES is enhanced by a nice jazzy score by Marcelo Zarvos.
Washington’s work behind the camera is solid if unambitious as he deftly guides his cast through the emotional terrain of Wilson’s words. It’s clear that fidelity to, and respect for, the source material was important to Washington as FENCES is very much a film of a play. The entire story takes place in this small back yard (or occasionally inside the house), so it’s going to feel stage-bound but I’m unconvinced that opening up this story would have improved it. FENCES is heavy on melodrama and symbolism — the fence that Troy is building in his yard has more than one meaning and a moment where the sun peaks out behind the clouds is a real eye-roller. FENCES may be a powerful play, but I found it a tough film to sit through.
3 of 5 Stars
FENCES opens everywhere Christmas day.
