Posted: 12/26/16 at 11:23pm
The acting in this movie was wonderful! Viola will absolutely win the oscar. I was disappointed in the adaption of the play. It felt like they just filmed the play in someone's back yard. I prefer when play adaptions really open up the world of the play - instead of telling us what happened off camera... just show us what happened (when his brother gets arrested etc.)
Posted: 12/27/16 at 9:59am
Never seen the play or know much about it. Loved the film. It will end up in my top 10 of the year. Very engaging. I love the fact that you can just be engaged by people talking for two hours. I'm sure the play was amazing.
Posted: 12/27/16 at 10:35am
I saw this yesterday afternoon with a group of friends. Absolutely great adaptation of the play. I didn't mind that it didn't go all the way in opening it up "cinematically". The performances here are universally excellent, but I didn't doubt that going in. Washington and Davis' history with the material gives them the opportunity to go deeper.
Every character in this play is wounded. Wounded by family, wounded by fate, wounded by life and by the very choices each one of them takes upon themselves to make - - - but none more so than Troy.
After the film we went to a late dinner and we had a discussion about Troy's choice in regards to Cory:
Updated On: 12/27/16 at 10:35 AM
Posted: 12/27/16 at 11:31am
Going to see this in just a little while as a part of our annual christmas vaca double feature.. My 16 year old put it at the top of his list. We figured we'd pair it with Moana.
(There seem to be more movies out there this year that we WANT to see...hard choice to make.)
Posted: 12/27/16 at 6:23pm
Ummmm....wow. Wonderful.....this is why I wish the Oscars gave an ensemble award.
Beautiful.
Posted: 12/27/16 at 6:32pm
The Screen Actors Guild, the largest voting bloc of the AMPAS, has nominated FENCES with 4 other films for --
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Captain Fantastic
Fences
Hidden Figures
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Posted: 12/28/16 at 8:23am
Went last night. A spectacular adaptation. I can quibble about some of Washington's directorial choices, which came off as needlessly heavy-handed, but the film overall is a marvel. I actually think Washington's smoldering performance comes off better on screen than it did on stage. Whereas James Earl Jones played Troy with a lot of bluster to compensate for the disappointments of Troy's life, Washington's Troy is more outwardly broken. Jones' performance was titanic; Washington's is surgically precise, and the camera really works well to impart that. Davis is stunning, as expected, and the other holdovers from the Broadway production do well translating their performances to film. (I personally think Stephen McKinley Henderson's work is deserving of awards recognition). Jovan Adepo is a real find as Cory.
It was a risk to translate this work so faithfully to the screen, but one that paid off in spades. It gives me hope for what's to come from Washington's and HBO's mandate to film the entire cycle.
