Directed by:
Dan GilroyScreenplay:
Dan GilroyCinematography:
Robert ElswitComposer:
James Newton HowardCast:
Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo, Amanda Warren, Hugo Armstrong, Sam Gilroy, Tony Plana, DeRon Horton, Amari Cheatom, Tarina Pouncy (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
A hard nosed liberal lawyer named Roman J. Israel has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner, the firm's front man, has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He finds out some unsettling things about what the crusading law firm as done that run afoul of his values of helping the poor and dispossessed, and finds himself in existential crisis that leads to extreme action. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (4)
This is Dan Gilroy's second feature film, this time much less focused and precise than the first. Too bad, because Denzel Washington thoroughly enjoys this afro alternative idealistic lawyer, and, after all his gangsters and equalizers, it's quite fun to watch him in a rather uncharacteristic role of a stuttering obese weirdo, suffering from partial autism. However, he is used more as a solitaire than as a suitable supporting aspect of a story about good and evil, right living and legal ideology, vs uncompromising materialism and hypocrisy, both of which are displayed clearly, and that is never the case. Quite short-sighted and not even extremely entertaining and engaging.
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Nowadays they will turn a story of any idiot fighting for the rights of not only black people into a movie for an Oscar nomination. Actually, the movie mirrors today’s situation in Hollywood. In a few years, nobody will remember this movie.
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I can't help but feel, while watching Roman J. Israel, Esq. that it was actually made for one reason only - for Denzel to show his mastery, which was confirmed, but unfortunately it didn't turn out to be a really good film, at least not in all respects. It's as if the other actors are extras and the setting is just a backdrop.
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I'm giving the film one star for Denzel Washington's performance, and the other one for the fact that there were a few moments that got me intrigued (namely three). I wonder why such an incredibly boring screenplay was written, why it was turned into an incredibly boring film, why the film has a two-hour running time, and why I wasted those two hours watching it. I don't think even Mulder and Scully could figure that out for me.
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