Antwone Fisher (2002)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
1 hr. 57 mins.
Starring: Derek Luke, Joy Bryant, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Novella Nelson
Rating: ** ½ star (out of 4 stars)
Anyone can appreciate a powerful melodrama that accentuates the personal struggle of an outcast who’s a product of his own tumultuous upbringing. And when referring to two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and his emotionally haunting but flawed narrative Antwone Fisher, this is definitely the case. Washington makes his directorial debut as he also stars as a compassionate psychiatrist trying to crack into the mindset of a conflicted sailor saddled with deep emotional problems reinforced by his disturbing past.
There’s a well-intentioned effort in presenting Antwone Fisher as a drama that inspires hope, examines hostility, and offers a heartfelt message about overcoming one’s overwhelming tainted situation in the name of redemption. That’s all well and good and as a filmmaker, Washington obviously has the knack for presenting his noteworthy material as a confrontational piece of entertainment worth contemplating over. However, Antwone Fisher is merely another schmaltzy tale added in a long line of “therapist taking on the angst of his problematic young man” genre. It’s a cinematic syndrome that is starting to stretch itself thin. Despite the familiarity of the storyline that loosely borrows its formula from fare ranging from Good Will Hunting to Finding Forrester, Antwone Fisher does feature terrific performances that generate some stirring feedback.
The film’s adaptation is based upon the book by the real-life Antwone Fisher. There’s no doubt that Fisher’s screenplay is raw and revealing but spotty at times, particularly when the movie’s dependence on flashbacks feels kind of manipulating and mawkish. Still, Washington has a decent handle on his project and does a competent job in bringing the chaotic life of protagonist Antwone Fisher to fruition on the big screen.
Newcomer Derek Luke is marvelous as the angered Fisher, an intelligent young man who enlists in the Navy looking to make sense out of his life. But Fisher cannot help but to give in to his behavioral demons. The guy is combative, unruly, uncontrollable and antagonistic. It’s almost as if Fisher’s label as a bad-tempered tyrant is what gives this man his negative energy, his hostile drive for existing. And so it’s not uncommon for Fisher to engage in numerous fights around the base in an obvious attempt to release his lingering frustration. It’s abundantly clear that Antwone Fisher needs desperate help in handling his explosive personality. Hmmm…just who is the source to rescue this nefarious Navy brat from his inner turmoil?
Enter Commander Jerome Davenport (Washington), a psychiatrist tapped to rescue Fisher from his miserable malaise. At first, Fisher does the pent-up frustration routine and refuses to open up to Davenport’s therapy sessions. He doesn’t talk and insists on being difficult. Whatever hothead that Fisher claims to be, Davenport somehow takes a strange liking to the confused sailor. It’s compelling in many ways to see the dynamics of a strong black male influence (represented by Davenport) try to unscramble the scattershot psyche of a potentially talented but misguided black charge in that of Antwone Fisher. The interaction is refreshingly gripping in the unity of vulnerable black manhood trying to cope with complicated obstacles.
It’s not long before Fisher starts to give details about his raucous childhood that’s apparently the root of his current conflicts. Among the notable ugly episodes that are revisited, we learn that Fisher was born in prison. Eventually, he would end up in the foster care system that sealed his dubious fate when he was placed in the neglectful foster home of abusive foster mother Mrs. Tate (Novella Nelson). As if the anxiety of living with a verbally overbearing Mrs. Tate wasn’t torture enough, her daughter took to molesting a six-year old Fisher in the process. To say that this guy’s youthful years were hellish is simply an understatement.
As the trust factor elevates between Davenport and Fisher, we see the soulful side of things starting to emerge enthusiastically. It is definitely a sweet diversion when Fisher finds a romantic companion in Cheryl (Joy Bryant), a fellow naval staffer who deeply cares for her man. Poor Antwone feels so awkward about Cheryl’s affection and seeks the guidance of Davenport to ensure that he doesn’t screw up his blossoming relationship with the beautiful Cheryl. Eventually, Fisher finds some kind of “completeness” when he’s finally reunited with his biological mother (Viola Davis, “Solaris”) and the rest of his real family. It’s a bittersweet albeit predictable climax that’s designed to emphasis the long hectic journey in this individual’s beleaguered existence.
As a motion picture, Antwone Fisher wants to be the epitome of the underdog trying to rise to the top of the heap. And for what it’s worth, that’s an admirable formula to rely on in a story that wants to make an indelible impact on the audience’s senses. It’s a wonderful therapeutic move for Fisher, aided with the scope of Washington’s capable direction, to humanly offer his complex life as a high-spirited landscape of passion and pain. Although involving, the film cannot help but bog itself down in the trappings of its run-of-the-mill sentimentality. Because the rudimentary patient-doctor connection approach seems so arbitrary, it highlights the hokey machinations of the plot therefore trivializing the potency of Fisher’s real-life experiences. This is, sad to say, one path that has been traveled down once before.
As a tandem, both Washington and Luke give honest, touching performances in an African-American exposition that refreshingly puts the spotlight on black aggression from a different, subtle point of view. It is tricky when trying to parlay a sensitive drama about child neglect/adult disillusionment that’s meant to be inspirational as well as instrumental in the minds of attentive moviegoers. On one hand, the movie cautiously questions the cynicism behind humanity. On the other hand, this fable drowns itself in clichéd sad-sack mode.
Antwone Fisher is riveting in spite of its uneven and saccharine-coated tendencies that paint a picture of one young man’s tenacious attempts to find himself amongst the uncertainty of his unbalanced livelihood.
Frank rates this film: ** 1/2 stars (out of 4 stars)