Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)

Because of the obvious exclusion of James Franco for the sexual misconduct allegations, the Academy had to replace him and instead of picking Jackman who earlier last year gave the best performance ever in a comic book movie, a performance so powerful and emotional, they nominated Denzel Washington for Roman J. Israel, Esq., a movie that was already on my watchlist because of two actors, Washington and Colin Farrell.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Denzel Washington) is an idealistic lawyer as well as the behind-the-scenes brains of a two-man law firm. When his partner has a heart attack, Israel is forced to become the front man and learns that the firm is broke and hasn't been as altruistic as he thought. Which brings him to work for a larger firm run by slick lawyer George Pierce (Colin Farrell) and he soon finds himself in a crisis.

And it's a mess. The plot is uninteresting, boring (it took me three hours to finish this and it's only 2 hours long) and features plot holes as big as the moon. Also, it relies too much (more like only, actually) on contrived plot points. 

And it's unfocused. Which is easily the biggest problem with Roman J. Israel, Esq., the fact that not only us, the audience, but writer and director Dan Gilroy as well had absolutely no idea where the story was going. At times it feels like watching a biography about an activist, at times it feels like a legal drama, at times like a thriller. One thing I know for sure, the film doesn't work as none of them and was evenly boring and unexciting. 

And it's a huge shame because the film actually addresses important themes such as honour, moral obligations, the moral ambiguity of the justice system, and the struggle of holding onto your believes when society tells you you should be like everybody else. It poses the question of where one crosses the line and how far they will go. But why on earth did Gilroy have to be so soporific? Why?

Columbia Pictures

And now Denzel Washington and his performance. I love this man, I really do. His performance as Malcolm X in Spike Lee's movie was so strong and powerful, it stuck with me long after I saw the movie (I was 14 at the time) and it's the reason why I started watching movies for him. Here, he's not so great. Sure, he carries the whole film on his shoulders but his performance isn't that good, and sure it's Oscar good. But he isn't the one to be blamed for that. Though at times he looks bored, he tries as hard as he can to give a convincing performance and be likeable as Roman. The real problem is that the character is flat and unengaging.

It also doesn't help that the supporting characters are thin and dull, they talk a lot but they don't actually say anything. Or that the supporting actors, every single one of them, even Colin Farrell and Carmen Ejogo, look bored and unhappy all the time as if they were forced to do this film.

The soundtrack was nice though, but it was nothing but a background. It added nothing to the film. I'm mainly talking about that suspense I was hoping for.