Movie Review: "Roman J. Israel, Esq."As much as I love movies, I don't often get to go to the theaters as much as I would like to, or experience the kind of special events movie culture can provide. I hope to change that, however, and last night I was able to attend my first ever advanced screening of a film. Of course, by the time you read this the film will already have been released worldwide to the public. But that doesn't mean I can't be hype as crap for getting to write this review before that actually gets to happen.
When my fiancé and myself got to the theater to watch this film, we had been rushing trying to make sure we got there on time. The movie was scheduled to start at 7 PM and we didn't arrive until 6:59 PM. Yeah, it was a fun evening. Neither of us had ever been to an official advanced screening and for myself it was to be a delight. I hoped. So we arrived, and we sat. And we sat. For almost an hour before the film began. I think it was technical difficulties? They mentioned that as being an issue at one point, but only after 45 minutes into our restless patience. It didn't help that before going in I had noticed this movie had a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes already. It had premiered at this year's TIFF and had already been circulating through limited release. This event was one of those. Then it finally began, and we were subjected to 2 hours of a slow-burning, introspective crime thriller with very little action and whole lot to say on civil rights issues. So then, dear reader, was Roman J. Israel, Esq. helmed by Dan Gilroy and starring Denzel Washington worth the wait? Hell yeah it was. To be perfectly honest, I don't know why the film has received such middling reviews. It's not perfect, but it's far from messy. The film follows the titular Roman, who's a criminal defense lawyer spurred on by his faith in humanity and ability to do what's right for the less fortunate. I won't do any spoiling, but essentially the way things escalate is that Roman's continued faith in humanity begins to wane as he's pushed and pushed further to do for others what is in his eyes unfair and unjust. Through these events Roman makes the unfortunate decision to do something selfish and to give himself what he feels is owed to him for all these years of self-imposed civic duty. And then we begin to watch as he is forced to deal with the consequences of this decision. Roman J. Israel, Esq. Never asks you to feel sorry for Roman, nor does it expect you to. Not only is nobody asking him to do these things for the greater good, but when he makes his fateful decision you know it's because he is consciously choosing to do something selfish. This is a film about how real and ugly people can be, how you can sympathize with them on one end of the spectrum but not on another. The wrinkle in one's humanity and one's fall from grace once that's unfurled. And that's where the richness in this drama lies. Not as a think piece that asks you to pay attention for two hours and try to guess who done it or why. But as a solid introspective piece that forces you to watch these events unfold and challenges you to ask yourself how would you act in such a situation. That's, I think, where a lot of people disconnect. They have to see the flaws in logic these character make, and they try to force themselves to believe that in a situation where you feel powerless and wronged that they would be able to see the light from the darkness and not make decisions that could better their own lives, all the while living in fear of when it all will come crumbling down. To widely paraphrase a line from the film, “none of us are above redemption for our mistakes.” But all of us can serve to learn from them and become better people from that point on. The problem is when you do one bad thing and then you keep doing it over and over, never admitting to your own wrong doing until you're forced to. The acting in this film is phenomenal from all parties involved. Denzel excels in the role of Roman - if you pay attention there's so many little quirks and mannerisms that he gives the character that make this feel as if you're watching a Based on True Story kind of drama. Roman is flawed and Denzel makes you believe that in every scene he's in. On top of that you have Colin Farrell who's a little stiff at the beginning, there's not much nuance to the character portrayed on screen until about a little over halfway through the movie when you can visibly start seeing and hearing the changes Roman is making on his character, George Pierce's, life. I do wish we had gotten more of Carmen Ejogo in this film as Maya. I felt out of all of the major characters hers was the most under-utilized. Coming in and out of Roman's life only when she needs guidance from someone who she feels she can trust. Which, to film's credit, that is addressed in a scene, but the two's possibly budding romance never felt organic enough for me. It always felt like Maya wanted a mentor/student role out of Roman and he, being the socially awkward man he is, completely misunderstood the situation. There's one moment towards the end of the film between the two, and this I will spoil, where Roman leans in an quickly kisses Maya as he's walking out of a bar in order to face his fate a little more head on and I gotta say that it felt incredibly out of place for both characters. At this point in the movie Roman has decided to stop being the selfish man he's let himself become and attempt to the right thing one last time. He's done with trying to treat himself and take what he feels is owed to him. But then that's all undercut by forcing himself onto Maya, even if for a brief moment, to take what by all accounts he feels is either owed to him or something he will never get once the countdown to his doom begins. Throughout this film Roman has been painted as a man that, while old fashion, always had his heart in the right place and was always willing to respect others as long as they respected him. Well, Maya respects him and even she seems surprised in that moment over the lack of respect he showed her. Maybe it's because of all of the wave of harassment cases that have been flying through Hollywood as of late, but I don't really feel compelled to root for a character when they so immediately take away another person's autonomy like that in a situation where by all accounts it was both rude and unnecessary for that to happen. But, that little bit is the biggest blip on this film's radar for me. It didn't cause me to automatically hate Roman, as I've grown to like him so much over the course of the rest of the last hour and a half and I do want to root for the guy because I do understand what it's like to make stupid decisions in the heat of feeling alone and powerless and like all you have to yourself in those moments are your thoughts, or so you make yourself believe as such. I think we all can relate to that. But hopefully none of us will meet the same self-destructive fate as Roman, J. Israel, Esq. Go watch this movie, folks. Final Score: 4 Times You asked What “Esquire” Means out of 5 Have you seen this movie yet? Do you agree with our score? Let us know in the comments!
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