To See or Not to See: Fences

August Wilson‘s Fences is one of those stalwart pieces of theater that has made the transition to film effortlessly. After starring in the stage revival in 2010, Denzel Washington reprises his role and brings it to the screen.

Troy (Denzel Washington) is a Pittsburgh sanitation worker in 1957. He’s married to Rose (Viola Davis, also reprising her stage performance), and has two sons–one adult, Lyons (Russell Hornsby), from a young, past relationship, and one teenager, Cory (Jovan Adepo), from his marriage to Rose. He owns his own home and takes care of his brother, Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson), who was brain damaged in World War II.

Troy is also a big talker. With his friend Bono (Stephen McKinley Henderson), Rose, and his children, he talks about his time in prison. He talks about his experience playing baseball in the Negro League (and his never-realized dream of playing the Major League). He ruminates on life, hard work, family, and death. He doesn’t treat his sons lovingly; he refuses to see Lyons’s perform with his band and he refuses to let Cory be recruited to play college football. Rose is his perfect counter. She measures her words. She doles out affection. She takes care of everyone around her.

Denzel Washington’s imbibes Troy with a seemingly never-ending supply of energy. Viola Davis is, as always, spectacular. When Troy and Rose’s moment of conflict finally happens, it is Viola Davis’s anguish, heartbreak, and raw emotion that stay with audiences long after the film ends.

★ ★★ out of 4

Photo Credit: Focus Features