SUMMARY:

Antwone Fisher is a young sailor given to sudden and fierce outbursts of anger and violence. Court martialed and reduced to the rate of seaman, Fisher is ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling and placed in the care of Dr. Jerome Davenport (Denzel Washington), a tough but tender-hearted Lieutenant Commander who gradually begins to make inroads into getting the troubled sailor to reach out and grasp the proffered helping hand.

STEVE SAYS:

We’ve seen this story before. ORDINARY PEOPLE springs to mind – the tough but caring shrink who breaks down the emotional barriers of a troubled youth in order to lead him back to the light. The redeeming feature of ANTWONE FISHER is the earnest and heartfelt way in which the tale is laid out. It’s difficult not to be touched when it’s Fisher himself telling his own life story; that of an abused and neglected little boy who was told time and again that he was worthless and would never amount to anything. In a sense, this movie is Antwone’s revenge against those who wronged him, thus making it very difficult to dislike, despite its many flaws.

To be sure, the script is laden with clichés and overly familiar movie conventions. But tyro director Washington, who chose another novice, Derek Luke, to be his Antwone, elicits an honest and well-realized performance from his young leading man. It helped that Luke displays a lot of the kind of star quality that a young Denzel Washington once showed in his early work. The director has a strong visual sense and an actor’s instinct for pace and emotional content, keeping the audience sufficiently engaged. But it’s a little like a stage magician calling attention to his right hand while his left one pockets the coin.

Joy Bryant (SHOWTIME) steps up to the major role of Antwone’s infinitely patient, almost saintly girlfrield, Cheryl. She is not only a solid actress, but easy on the eyes as well.

Washington acquits himself well as the caring psychiatrist; though I’m guessing he would rather not have had his concentration split behind and in front of the camera. However, the casting of two unknowns in the male and female leads dictated that he bring some of his own considerable star power to the project and that he does. Washington is always riveting on screen, even in less than compelling material like JOHN Q. The fact is, he’s one of those actors who just elevates anything he’s in.

ANTWONE FISHER is an easy movie to pick apart, were I so inclined. But I believe that anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, or been made to feel less than whole, will so identify with this material that the hoary plot points will be forgiven.

While not promoted as such, ANTWONE FISHER is good family fare. Our eleven year old Chris thought it was a solid “five kernels.”

I’ll give it three, with another half for having its heart in the right place.

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Patty says:

What do you want from an autobiographical piece, Steve? The material is, by nature, self-absorbed and based on the shaky foundation of childhood memories. This one has all the charm of MOMMY DEAREST and the sentimentality of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. But, God bless us everyone, this one sort of works.

ANTWONE FISHER was more than the sad tale of one of the thousands of disenfranchised children who are discarded by parents like those kitchen gadgets that you just have to buy but then find you have no space for. You have to consider that this is a kid who starts out life with worthless parents. A foster family that makes Michael Jackson look almost like a normal dad does its best to really screw the kid up. In spite of all of this, aside for a deep need for some basic anger management, the kid turns out pretty normal. (He, like most of us, wants the idealized mom, dad, aunts, uncles and the random cousin with whom you were forced to take baths you were little).

This film is about the part of Antwone’s life when he begins to discover that happiness as an adult depends on what you’re willing to invest in life, not on what you bring to the table from your childhood. This kid didn’t have time for membership in Adult Children of Women Who Should Have Been Sterilized At Puberty.

Joy Bryant is both fresh and engaging; a bright new face on the screen. She easily upstages Salli Richardson in her role as Davenport’s long-suffering wife. Richardson comes across as stuffy and unlikable for most of the film. Although the source of the marital conflict isn’t disclosed until late in the third act, the viewer naturally assumes that Davenport is just bored to tears with her.

Denzel Washington scores another performance that will keep him fresh in the minds of movie-goers. He gives his character enough depth to make Davenport’s lack of professionalism in his patient/therapist relationship almost understandable -- almost. I squirmed around in my seat thinking about the implications of a therapist taking an emotionally needy patient home with him for Thanksgiving dinner; one more person in the kid’s life who will set him up to be disappointed; one more emotional letdown. It’s enough to make this social worker cry.

Not like we needed anything more to cry about in this film. Child abuse isn’t funny. This poor kid was abused in every possible way by those who were given the charge to protect him. The fact that he survived to tell the story is amazing. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t usually work that way.

Derek Luke is one to watch. His performance is amazing. He performs the admirable feat of making this skeptic want to believe that the story is true.

I’ll give this one three and a half kernels. Watch it when you need to clean out your sinuses.

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