Antwone Fisher
Cast
Derek Luke .... Antwone Fisher
Malcolm David Kelley .... Antwone Fisher Age 7
Cory Hodges .... Antwone Fisher Age 14
Denzel Washington .... Jerome Davenport
Joy Bryant .... Cheryl
Directed by
Denzel Washington
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
5/10. Antwone Fisher, starring Denzel Washington and based on the life of
Antwone Fisher, is directed by Denzel Washington and written by
Antwone Fisher, which is its major problem. Fisher didn't write one
bad thing about himself, like he actually would. Washington includes
himself way too much for a one-dimensional character. Worst of all,
Washington is too much of a novice at directing to realize that the
characters not only need development, but also need to have two sides
to them. Antwone, although I'm sure he's a fascinating guy, but the
way that Fisher writes himself is with such pride, he can't write a
bad word about himself. And Washington seems to think that he's now
in the "elite" of the actor-directors and wants to show us that he
too can work like that. He wants to show Woody Allen or Kevin Smith
or any other actor-director that he's now in control, so he's in as
many scenes as he can be.
The story, which isn't really anything to make a movie about anyway,
has Fisher (Derek Luke, in an overrated debut film) in the navy and a
short temper, something that flares up only once or twice more in the
film. He's sent to see a psychiatrist, Jerome Davenport (Washington),
who digs into Fisher's abusive past, as he's sent to a foster home.
During the present, he falls for Cheryl (Joy Bryant), and advances in
a relationship with her.
The one most remarkable thing about this movie is that Cheryl is
probably the most multi-dimensional one-dimensional supporting
character in a recent movie. We learn a bit about her, such as where
she works, which is more than I expected to know about her. However,
like Carl Hanratty in Catch Me If You Can, Davenport was fine as
a "character" where we didn't really want to know much about him, but
a crucial thing is learned at the end. Also, at the end, when
Davenport is spilling his guts out to Fisher, it's clich�d and
scripted, not something that could actually happen.
It's not to say that Antwone Fisher is boring, it's just not
exciting. With its two parts, the first part being the more
interesting of the two, it can't have a straight flow. Nothing really
interested me throughout the film, but I never found the need to pay
attention to something else. I wasn't touched at all, how was I to be
touched? Nothing grabbing came out of it. How is this supposed to be
touching? Because a man remembers his past? I don't think so!
Basically, Antwone Fisher is an OK movie. It's not exciting but not
boring, the acting is not great but not bad, and the movie itself is
not great but not horrible.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG-13 for violence, language and mature thematic material involving child abuse.
Running time: 120 minutes
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