13. Fences

I went into Fences feeling like I was going to love it. I knew Viola Davis had won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and had heard good things.

Fences follows the story of Troy (Denzel Washington) as he raises his perhaps unconventional family in the fifties. He dreamed of being a baseball player, but was told he was too old by the time People of Colour were able to play professionally. At the beginning of our story, he's working as a refuse collector, aspiring to become the driver.

The story is based around the interactions of Troy with his wife Rose (Viola Davis), friend Bono (Stephen Henderson) and children (Jovan Adepo & Russell Hornsby). As much as I like a thriller, or a psychological film, I'm also partial to a film with less action, and more character development. Watching this film was interesting, as actually I really started to detest Washington's character, and felt real empathy for Rose.

There's no doubt that Viola Davis deserved an Oscar for her performance in Fences, she truly was fabulous, and you really felt and understood how the emotions her character was feeling. Her speech, shown in the trailer, is incredible, and you really start to feel how it must be, to be in her shoes. I think Denzel Washington did a great job as Troy as well, we learn about Troy's nasty side, and as I mentioned before, I really started to dislike him, but you still can have see how the past, and how being discriminated against, has affected his behaviour.

Somehow, the plot doesn't quite do it for me. Despite the brilliant acting performances throughout, I wasn't quite as hooked or emotionally invested in this film as I wanted to be. The film is long and has a slow pace, and sometimes is not so good at explaining things. Without ruining the film, there were a couple of places where I thought I was following the dialogue but then felt I had to guess an event that had happened, or work out what was trying to be said. I feel like the film could be improved perhaps, by using flashbacks or something similar, to help really get into the mind of Troy, and to help us see the real story.

Overall, I wasn't as impressed with this film as I thought I was going to be. The talents of the actors involved is there for us all to see, but I think the film could have given more in terms of the plot, and I think it could also have asked more questions. I didn't come out of the film feeling inspired, or shocked, and I didn't even cry, which as you may have seen, is often a theme of a good film in my book. I'd give Fences a 7/10, a slow moving and long film, redeemed by the acting skill.