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“Roman J. Israel, Esq.” is the kind of horrendous hot mess an actor makes directly after he wins the Oscar. Granted, Denzel Washington didn’t win the golden statuette he deserved last year, but if he had, it might have justified why he chose this lifeless story as his follow-up.
Roman J. Israel, Esq. is an idealistic defense attorney whose life is upended when a turbulent series of events challenge the activism that has defined his career when an ambitious, monied lawyer recruits Roman to his firm. Director: Dan Gilroy. Writer:screenplay by Dan Gilroy. Cast: Denzel Washington as Roman J. Israel.
Roman J. Israel is an idealistic defense attorney whose life gets upended when his boss and mentor -- the legendary civil rights icon William Henry Jackson -- dies unexpectedly.
- (177)
- Dan Gilroy
- PG-13
- Denzel Washington
- In brief, it’s a winner.
- Verdict
By William Bibbiani
Posted: Nov 9, 2017 4:00 pm
“Each one of us is greater than the worst thing we’ve ever done” is the sort of line that reads great on paper, and sounds even better coming from Denzel Washington, but demands a heck of a lot of scrutiny. And a heck of a lot of scrutiny it gets in Dan Gilroy’s anxious and captivating new legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq., one of the richest examinations of catastrophic ethical collapse you’re likely to see.
Denzel Washington stars as Roman J. Israel, Esq., who has spent decades of his life in a small room at a law firm, doing complex paperwork while his partner makes all the appearances in court and - as Roman J. Israel, Esq. learns too late, after his partner has a heart attack - all of the difficult decisions. Roman J. Israel, Esq. is suddenly thrust into the real world of criminal law, where principles are considered a luxury and practicality reigns supreme, and where there’s no place for an introvert who refuses to compromise his integrity.
Writer/director Dan Gilroy would be cruel if he weren’t so calculating. Roman J. Israel, Esq. spends the majority of his own film flailing, the walls closing in tighter every time he opens his mouth. He’s so passionate about civil rights that he insults the volunteers as a civil rights non-profit organization. He’s so eager to fight for what’s right that, when he finally does get a job at a successful law firm, he can’t resist the impulse to call his new boss a cockroach.
Nobody cares, and if they do, they’re too wrapped up in their selfish motives to help a man who spent his whole life dedicated to doing everything the right way, not the profitable way or the easy way. Gilroy spends so much time convincing Roman J. Israel, Esq. to abandon his moral center, and Washington gives such a sympathetic and indignant performance, that we can’t entirely blame him when the time finally comes for Roman to make the worst decision of his life.
Fiercely intelligent and deeply suspenseful, Roman J. Israel, Esq. is an absorbing morality tale from writer/director Dan Gilroy, and boasts one of Denzel Washington’s finest performances.
- William Bibbiani
Strong performances, but inconsistent and unsatisfying. Read Common Sense Media's Roman J. Israel, Esq. review, age rating, and parents guide.
- Dan Gilroy
- Jeffrey M. Anderson
Roman J. Israel, Esq. Reviews. Gilroy and Washington deftly open up this character’s quirks and complexities, and even when the narrative begins to wander Roman is still the focus. Full...
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Sep 11, 2017 · Denzel Washington is haunting as a semi-functional legal savant who might have stepped out of a '70s time machine. The movie around him intrigues and meanders. By Owen Gleiberman. Courtesy of Sony...
