Sunday 26 November 2017

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)

Denzel Washington is back to making films that are worthy of his talent. After years of slumming, he has done some of the best work of his career lately (ie. Fences) and he continues that with his incredible turn in Roman J. Israel, Esq. the messy yet moving follow up to Nightcrawler by writer/director Dan Gilroy.

Gilroy's Nightcrawler was surprisingly in its strength. Roman doesn't live up to that. Roman meanders, a lot, and never feels completely cohesive. Gilroy's script is awkward, and not in what feels like an intentional way. It's inconsistent. The story rarely grabs us. There are ideas here which are interesting, especially for those of us who are interesting in "progressive lawyering." And the arc, while muddled, has an interesting take on the classic underdog narrative. While the film is flawed in its execution it holds on to some fascainting elements to show us that Gilroy may have missed the bulls-eye here but remains relatively on target.

But at the centre of this is one hell of a performance. Washington shows us why he is considered one of the best actors of his generation by giving the kind of layered and nuanced performance while also creating a remarkably unique and eccentric character. The film wastes the talents of Ejogo and Ferrell but makes full use of Washington's strength.

And Roman J. Israel the character is a tragic inspiration, again especially to us progressive lawyers who can feel our dreams dying. I was taken aback at how inspiring I found him to be. I left wanting to do better and knowing just how hard that will be. The fact that Washington and Gilroy captured that is enough to make this messy little movie worth a watch.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. 
Starring: Denzel Washington, Carmen Ejogo, Colin Farrell
Writer/Director: Dan Gilroy

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