Denzel Washington has been a national treasure, turning in great performance after great performance on the big screen.
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) required a quirkiness he nailed. He plays the behind the scenes partner in a two-man law firm that takes on the cases of the poor. When his boss and friend dies suddenly, he must move front and center. Borderline obsessive-compulsive, his rigid ideals and genius do not mesh well beyond the cocoon his office has provided for more than 30 years. When the nearly bankrupt practice is taken over by a highly successful firm headed by a dapper titan, he looks for work elsewhere and has no luck. Desperate for cash, he commits an ethics violation that puts him on solid financial ground. He then goes to work for the firm and begins to enjoy a lavish lifestyle. Of course, his lone legal sin is soon discovered. What distinguishes the film from others of the genre is that it is chiefly a character study. One need not agree with Israel's liberal views to enjoy the portrait. And although Israel demeans other lawyers, the narrative shows that ideals are often trumped - rightly - by necessity, by the practical in the real world. Israel is the misfit, as behind the times as the '70's music he loves. Colin Farrell is excellent as the chief who has not lost his soul despite enormous success. Carmen Ejogo does an effective turn as a self-doubting social activist inspired by Israel. The ubiquitous Tony Plana does yeoman work as the type of lawyer people outside the profession despise. The flick was a colossal failure at the box office. Made on a budget of $22 million, it returned only $13 million worldwide. 17,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 6.4 on a scale of ten. I sense fans expect Washington to portray the typical heroic character, not an oddball. Even an Oscar nomination for best actor failed to generate interest. Too bad - it's a good movie. It was Dan Gilroy's second stint in the director's chair. He's had good success writing screenplays, although none of his ten have been true blockbusters. He has two in post production. Those looking for action would be very disappointed in
Roman J. Israel, Esq.. The pace is measured and the film runs a bit more than two hours. I'd guess those who would appreciate it most would be actors who would love to play such an interesting character. Here's is Washington in character, and a fitting quote:
When posting about my books at Facebook, I use a rotation system. Up this morning was
Killing. I scanned through my feed looking for the previous post I'd used, which I intended to copy and paste. It seems FB has deleted all of them going back months. The only reason I can think as to why is because of the theme, even though there must be thousands of books that use "killing" in the title. Maybe someone lodged a complaint about the political content. Or maybe it's just a fluke. Let's see what happens with today's post. My thanks to whomever downloaded it to Kindle this week.
With the threat of rain constant, I set up shop at my usual nook under the scaffold. My thanks to the gentleman who bought a thriller in Russian, and to the middle age woman who purchased
Exodus by Leon Uris and
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway; and the giddy woman who selected Danielle Steel's
Against All Odds; and the woman who bought two books in Russian; and finally to the elderly Latina who, at my recommendation, took Mary Higgins Clark's
The Cradle Will Fall. She has often said she reads to take her mind off her woes. Today she was accompanied by her daughter, who seemed very drunk and who addressed me as "handsome," which proved it. It was sad.
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