Review of Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) by Erik B. A — 02 Mar 2018

Why would I think that a Denzel Washington movie that got an Oscar nomination would be anything less than amazing? I know. It's because they put next to nothing into their advertising campaign for this film. I had no idea what it was about. Even with the Esq. in the title, I honestly didn't know that his character is a lawyer. I didn't know that it was directed by the guy who directed the amazing #Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014) and the writer of several other interesting films like Tarsem Singh's The Fall and some not so interesting like Kong: Skull Island. I had heard that Roman J. Israel, Esq. was supposed to be on the autism spectrum but I wasn't sure until after I saw the film and heard Denzel Washington explicitly state this as a fact in the special features. I had no idea it would be so captivating and compelling. I was transfixed on the screen the whole time. The stakes were so high, and it just got crazier and crazier. It's like a dark black Hitchcock version of The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith could be the only other actor alive able to do this character, but I don't think he would be willing because Will Smith only plays good guys. Let's just say Roman J. Israel, Esq. gets really dark and leave it at that. I am kinda glad I didn't know anything about it now. Avoid all spoilers if you can, but have no reservations about watching it. I'm a bit sad I waited this long.

Now that I've seen all the #BestActor #Oscar nominees. It's kind of a shame. I still don't think #Denzel has a chance on Sunday, but I bet he would be a serious contender if the studio would have put up a decent campaign for it. Highest recommendation.