Talking To The Screen
Antwone Fisher
Wednesday 1/16/03, 12:06 am
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In the category of most masturbatory and self-indulgent movie of the year, ?Adaptation? was pretty much a shoe-in. That is, until Antwone Fisher wrote his memoirs as a screenplay titled, ?Antwone Fisher?.
There?s no denying that Antwone has had a difficult life. He was born into foster care while his mother was in prison, and his father nowhere to be found. His foster family is especially cruel. The kind of cruelty found only in true stories. When the film opens, Antwone, played surprisingly well by rookie Derek Luke, is in the navy, where severe anger issues are threatening his career. He is ordered, after fighting with a fellow naval officer, to attend therapy with Dr. Jerome Davenport (Denzel Washington). Through his relationship with Dr. Davenport, Antwone deals with the problems stemming from his childhood, even going so far as to seek out the mother he?s never met.
?Antwone Fisher? is a moving story. If it wasn?t true, or it wasn?t written by Antwone Fisher, I would have been more impressed and may have even enjoyed it. With this material it?s not difficult to evoke pathos. This is all the movie does. It forces the viewer to sympathetic to Antwone, accomplishing this through story, mood, and music and is completely unrelenting. There isn?t a hint of depth to Antwone?s character, all of his behavior is due to the abuse he suffered as a foster child, all his accomplishes are due to the help he received from Dr. Davenport. The icing on the cake is Davenport?s final speech to Antwone. In this monologue, written by Antwone Fisher, the man, addressing Antwone Fisher, the character, Davenport utters the phrases ?I owe you? and ?I salute you?. This is worse than any self indulgence Charlie Kaufman ever committed in ?Adaptation?.
Home
In the category of most masturbatory and self-indulgent movie of the year, ?Adaptation? was pretty much a shoe-in. That is, until Antwone Fisher wrote his memoirs as a screenplay titled, ?Antwone Fisher?.
There?s no denying that Antwone has had a difficult life. He was born into foster care while his mother was in prison, and his father nowhere to be found. His foster family is especially cruel. The kind of cruelty found only in true stories. When the film opens, Antwone, played surprisingly well by rookie Derek Luke, is in the navy, where severe anger issues are threatening his career. He is ordered, after fighting with a fellow naval officer, to attend therapy with Dr. Jerome Davenport (Denzel Washington). Through his relationship with Dr. Davenport, Antwone deals with the problems stemming from his childhood, even going so far as to seek out the mother he?s never met.
?Antwone Fisher? is a moving story. If it wasn?t true, or it wasn?t written by Antwone Fisher, I would have been more impressed and may have even enjoyed it. With this material it?s not difficult to evoke pathos. This is all the movie does. It forces the viewer to sympathetic to Antwone, accomplishing this through story, mood, and music and is completely unrelenting. There isn?t a hint of depth to Antwone?s character, all of his behavior is due to the abuse he suffered as a foster child, all his accomplishes are due to the help he received from Dr. Davenport. The icing on the cake is Davenport?s final speech to Antwone. In this monologue, written by Antwone Fisher, the man, addressing Antwone Fisher, the character, Davenport utters the phrases ?I owe you? and ?I salute you?. This is worse than any self indulgence Charlie Kaufman ever committed in ?Adaptation?.