Denzel Washington stars in and directs the film adaptation of the play Fences

Post date: Jan 11, 2017 1:09:17 PM

By: Robby Timmler, Staff Writer

Posted January 11th, 2017

Fences is about an African American family, the Maxsons: Troy (played by Denzel Washington), a garage man that was a former baseball player until he saw that he wasn’t being treated the same as the Caucasian athletes, quit, and is now stuck in his old ways of having to succeed and take care of his family by himself; himself; Rose (played by Viola Davis), Troy’s wife that stays at home and takes care of their kids; Lyons (played by Russell Hornsby), Troy’s eldest son who’s a musician; Cory, (played by Jovan Adepo) Troy’s youngest son that gets recruited to play college football--however Troy doesn’t think Cory should play because of Troy’s nasty experience while playing baseball; and lastly, Gabriel (played by Mykelti Williamson), Troy’s brother that became autistic after suffering a wartime injury to his head. The story consists of many problems that arise within a year's time: Troy cheating on Rose, choosing if Gabriel should be put into a hospital or not, and Cory standing up to Troy.

Fences is one of the many rare films that captures people just in its first few minutes and never lets them go. The greatest part about Fences is the spectacular acting from both its main stars--Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Both of their performances shows the complexity and emotional battles that their characters have with themselves and each other. Also, the other emotional moments that occur between Troy and Gabriel show how Troy cares and protects his brother from any harm. Troy’s stubbornness to let Cory play college football and Cory later growing up to lose respect for his father is another example of great chemistry between the actors. Fences talks about issues that are still relevant today like family, trust, and fighting for what you believe in. Fences is a movie that is not just relatable to a certain race or gender, but to all races and genders. The only thing that people might not like are the racial slurs that are said a lot throughout the film. Fences gets 10/10 stars.