Denzel Washington doesn't do a ton of movies each year, and in 2016 we only got to see him on the screen twice. Fortunately, they were two very different films. There was the mainstream blockbuster The Magnificent Seven, which did fairly well a couple of months ago. And then there's his passion project, Fences, which has him pulling double duty as director and star, with Oscar aspirations looking pretty good for both roles.
Denzel and co-star Viola Davis won Tony Awards for their performances in the stage revival of August Wilson's Pultizer Prize-winning play. It took years for Denzel to get the thumbs up to adapt the 1950s-set story of Troy Maxon, a former Negro League baseball player who never got his chance at the Majors because of the color barrier. The film deals with his self-destructive resentment and anger over the course life has taken him, despite having a wife who loves him.
We were sitting back waiting for Fences to see if it was truly all it had been hyped to be. Without giving anything away, I'll just say the film will be discussed for a long time to come. Also starring Mykelti Williamson, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, and Saniyya Sidney, Fences opens Christmas Day.
