August Wilson’s Tony-award winning play makes it to the screen Christmas Day with some compelling performances from its amazing cast.

“Fences” was written back in 1983 by the late August Wilson. It premiered on Broadway in March 1987 with a cast that featured that talents of James Earl Jones, Mary Alice and Courtney B. Vance. It was revived in April 2010 with a limited engagement and starred Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. the revival won three Tony Awards with Best Actor & Actress for Mr. Washington & Ms. Davis. Now, nearly the entire 2010 Broadway cast reprise their roles for the 2016 film adaptation.

“Fences” tells the tale of Troy Maxson, a former Negro League home run king who became too old for the majors. He now makes his living as a sanitation worker in the Hill District of Pittsburgh in the late 1950’s. Troy is angered by the racial discrimination that continues to runs his life, in his case – the caste system of the sanitation department in which white drives the garbage trucks while the blacks collect it.

Troy holds court in the backyard of the home he shares with his wife of eighteen years Rose (Davis) and their son Cory (Adepo). Listening to Troy’s view of the world and sharing a bottle of gin is his long-time best friend Bono (Henderson) and his eldest son Lyons (Hornsby) who comes in every week to borrow money from Troy. As the day wore on, we meet Gabriel (Williamson), Troy’s brother who was shell shocked by the war. Gabriel recently moved away from the Maxson’s home for his independence.

The acting is all-around impressive. At the moment Troy’s selfishness is fully revealed, Viola Davis delivers a monologue of agonizing pain that shows you one woman’s entire reality breaking down. For a few shattering moments in the movie, when Rose talks about her family of half-brothers and half-sisters, it draws the aftermath from America’s racist past right into the harsh reality of the present. Rose has the deepest of love for her husband and does so much point out his misdeeds. The clip that we watched in the trailer is much longer in the movie and even more destructive. It’s so painful yet you feel captive in the performance. Yet a powerful drama like “Fences” should build in strength, and after a while it begins to disappear into thin air.

There’s a resonance to Washington’s performance as a man who has tried to stand up to injustices in his younger days, only to not only betraying his own family but himself in the process.

Rounding out the cast, Stephen McKinley Henderson has shown extended range of emotional stability and humor while Bowie State Alum Jovan Adepo (feature film debut) is convincing as a contemplative teenager who can’t wait to proclaim his own will — even if it comes at the expense of his father’s vulnerable dignity and power. Russell Hornsby and Mykelti Williamson have smaller roles as Lyles (Troy’s elder son) and Gabriel (Troy’s brother), but they’re crucial to the film’s overall delivery.

The film, as a whole, has shown the gravitas of a worthy Oscar-contender. As you look at this film, there’s no hesitation that the character’s lives are significant but you’re also aware of how much the award-winning play turned movie wants to matter in today’s times.

FINAL GRADE: A

About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

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