Fences

[D-Fens]

Fences is the story of a fence being built in Sepia, Pittsburgh. Don't be fooled by the title, it's just one fence. You can tell it's important though because people stand near it and act. A LOT. You can tell it's good acting because it takes a while to say something and they add little digressions. I saw Denzel on stage once for reals.

Oh it stars Denzel Washington, the greatest actor of all time and some other people. One of them gets a snotty nose a couple of times. Denzel will probably win an Oscar because he's put on weight and his character has no redeeming qualities.

The movie is really about fatherhood, or a bad father... or all fathers. Deep. Or maybe it's just a familial story about broken relationships and the concessions you have to make to mend fences. Ah, I get it now! Fair warning, it's adapted from a play of the same name so the movie is very static and mainly about weathered performance, just like a... this thing has a great title!

[Smarties]

This was a long film. Great performances from the whole cast, but it definitely felt more suited to the stage than as a film.

[sfancy]

How long was it?

[Beate]

2h19 minutes according to IMDb.com

[D-Fens]

Fence was about 60ft.

[Diamond1]

Great performances but it definitely felt like a stage play - interesting but maybe should have stayed on stage, not sure it was a great film.

[McG]

Saw Fences today using my Odeon Limitless Card. I really enjoyed the film and didn't find it too long. . .the story and various themes are interesting but best of all is the acting by Viola Davies even more than Daniel Washington. By the way, the fence is of little consequence to the story other than incidental. I agree there are some scenes where the appearance of a stage play is obvious but I didn't feel like this about the full film.
Marks 8/10

[Florence1]

As Mark Kermonde says it doesn't quite work. Although well acted by the cast it does feel like you are watching a film of a play. The first part of the film was extremely wordy and static and slow but it did pick up. I did engage with the characters and Viola Davis was brilliant as the wife and deserved her Bafta award. It did drag at the beginning but I did not feel it overlong. Essentially it is a film about relationships and the problems. Not sure I could recommend. 6/10

[raj101]

Largely just a play on screen, with all their verbose and static drawbacks but well acted.

Obviously Denzoid wants an Oscar but using the medium of a play feels a bit of a copout. In a real play you don't get to reshoot scenes (although course you cant win an Oscar in a stage play role)

3 stars.

[fillumboy2]

Yes, it is a film of a play, but it is a great play. Unfortunately, it is not a great film, but it is very well done.

There is very little scope in the story to widen out the settings very much - there's a handful of brief new places but, otherwise, it is all back at the house - although I suppose that does emphasise the claustrophobia of their situation.

Viola D definitely deserves her Oscar nom - it is a beautifully subtle performance where it is often the things she doesn't say that speak the loudest.