'Fences' is strong on acting but overly stagey
August Wilson鈥檚 celebrated 1983 play 鈥淔ences,鈥� which is set in Pittsburgh in the聽1950s, was revived on Broadway in 2010 starring Denzel Washington and聽Viola Davis, both of whom received Tony Awards. Both reprise their roles in the聽movie adaptation, along with several聽others from the original cast, and the film is directed by Washington. The result, as might be expected, is strong on聽acting and overly stagey.
As a director, Washington has chosen to keep Wilson鈥檚 play pretty much聽within the confines of a single set, and, although I respect him for not聽attempting to 鈥渙pen up鈥� the play just to make it seem more 鈥渃inematic,鈥澛爐he cooped-up approach heightens the play鈥檚 weaknesses as well as its聽strengths.
Troy (Washington) is a trash collector with a load of chips on his聽shoulder. A promising baseball player, he was barred from the major聽leagues because of his skin color and spent time in prison. His wife, Rose聽(Davis), puts up with his careening moodswings, usually heightened on聽those Friday afternoons after work when Troy and his old friend, Bono (a聽marvelous Stephen Henderson), congregate in Troy鈥檚 backyard and break聽out the booze.
Troy鈥檚 youngest son, Cory (Jovan Adepo), is a star high school football聽player whose aspirations are demeaned by his father. Lyons (Russell聽Hornsby), an older son from a previous marriage, is a jazz musician who聽periodically shows up to uneasily ask Troy for a loan. With everyone聽seeking Troy鈥檚 favor in one way or another, he luxuriates in his sense of聽privilege. He鈥檚 brutally aware of his power over others, perhaps because聽he recognizes that he has so little control over his own impulses.
Wilson鈥檚 big and bulky play (reportedly trimmed considerably by Tony聽Kushner, who gets a co-producer credit) owes much to the family聽dysfunction classics of Eugene O鈥橬eill and Arthur Miller, but it also has聽notes of heightened allegory that fall flat, such as the recurring聽character of Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson), Troy鈥檚 brain-damaged brother聽who keeps barging into the action to utter deranged prophecies.
We are obviously meant to regard Troy as a symbolic black man聽sacrificed on the altar of racial injustice. But his deep seething聽resentments turn him into a species of ogre, despite Washington鈥檚聽attempts to humanize him, and Rose鈥檚 desperate attachment to Troy聽comes to seem less devotional than masochistic. Davis is quite powerful聽in those few scenes where Rose is allowed to break free from the聽character鈥檚 wary vigilance 鈥� where she pours out her hurt 鈥� but the scenes聽often play out as arias in an opera that never quite rises to full cry. Grade:聽B- (Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some suggestive references.)
