Antwone Fisher (Derek Luke) is a navy officer with a short fuse who finds himself being referred to the navy doctor Jerome Davenport (Denzel Washington). At first, Fisher is standoffish and unwilling to open up to Davenport, but Davenport persists with the young officer and eventually Fisher does begin to try to explain some of the reasons for his behaviour. Davenport soon learns that Fisher had a troublesome childhood whilst he was growing up with his foster mother and Davenport believes that it may help Fisher's emotional psyche if he were to try and find his mother and make attempts to reconnect with his family.
This is actually a nice story and from a narrative point of view it is very well-constructed and structured; essentially we'll witness something happening to Fisher that lands him in trouble and then we get flashbacks from his childhood which establishes motives for his behaviour in later life. The film uses this approach for much of its running time and it does work very well; you get the best of both worlds in some ways by witnessing some powerful dramatic moments and then we get some exposition explaining away why Fisher behaves in the manner that he does. It is a fairly well-written film which does a good job of developing its protagonist (although having the real life Antwone Fisher penning the screenplay probably helped the film a lot in this respect).
According to the trivia section, the likes of Will Smith and Cuba Gooding JR auditioned for the role, but Washington refused and wanted an unknown actor to portray the lead character - this was probably a risk at the time, but one which, in the long run, probably paid off. Maybe it was budget constraints that forced Washington cast an unknown actor (who knows what sort of salary Smith or Gooding Jr wanted at the time) or maybe Washington knew that a film of this nature didn't have to rely on star power to get people to watch it after all everyone loves an uplifting feel-good story don't they? Whatever his reasons it was probably the right choice and Derek Luke really works hard here in crafting a character who is misunderstood, traumatised, deeply troubled, but he's also a character that is strong-willed and brave.
From a narrative perspective this film is good and some of Washington's directing is also good, but the trouble with this film is that it does all feel a bit clinical, by-the-numbers and rather safe. It does have the feel of a Lifetime movie and it's clear when watching this film that Washington takes no real risks and whilst it is good in several parts, it is also quite weak in other areas - the film makes a big deal about Fisher meeting his mother and gives a big build-up to this occasion, but when the time comes for Fisher to meet his mother it all falls a bit flat and it doesn't have the emotionally satisfying pay-off that I was hoping for. Fisher's romance with Cheryl is also a weak part of the film which is both undercooked and underwhelming and to me isn't the most important aspect of the story - although it does seem to take up a good chunk of the film.
Antwone Fisher is a nice uplifting story that will undoubtedly cheer you up if you're feeling down and I suppose in that respect it does its job. Despite my reservations above, I did like the film and I too found it uplifting and enjoyable, but it just wasn't quite the emotional punch to the gut that I was expecting it to be.
This is actually a nice story and from a narrative point of view it is very well-constructed and structured; essentially we'll witness something happening to Fisher that lands him in trouble and then we get flashbacks from his childhood which establishes motives for his behaviour in later life. The film uses this approach for much of its running time and it does work very well; you get the best of both worlds in some ways by witnessing some powerful dramatic moments and then we get some exposition explaining away why Fisher behaves in the manner that he does. It is a fairly well-written film which does a good job of developing its protagonist (although having the real life Antwone Fisher penning the screenplay probably helped the film a lot in this respect).
According to the trivia section, the likes of Will Smith and Cuba Gooding JR auditioned for the role, but Washington refused and wanted an unknown actor to portray the lead character - this was probably a risk at the time, but one which, in the long run, probably paid off. Maybe it was budget constraints that forced Washington cast an unknown actor (who knows what sort of salary Smith or Gooding Jr wanted at the time) or maybe Washington knew that a film of this nature didn't have to rely on star power to get people to watch it after all everyone loves an uplifting feel-good story don't they? Whatever his reasons it was probably the right choice and Derek Luke really works hard here in crafting a character who is misunderstood, traumatised, deeply troubled, but he's also a character that is strong-willed and brave.
From a narrative perspective this film is good and some of Washington's directing is also good, but the trouble with this film is that it does all feel a bit clinical, by-the-numbers and rather safe. It does have the feel of a Lifetime movie and it's clear when watching this film that Washington takes no real risks and whilst it is good in several parts, it is also quite weak in other areas - the film makes a big deal about Fisher meeting his mother and gives a big build-up to this occasion, but when the time comes for Fisher to meet his mother it all falls a bit flat and it doesn't have the emotionally satisfying pay-off that I was hoping for. Fisher's romance with Cheryl is also a weak part of the film which is both undercooked and underwhelming and to me isn't the most important aspect of the story - although it does seem to take up a good chunk of the film.
Antwone Fisher is a nice uplifting story that will undoubtedly cheer you up if you're feeling down and I suppose in that respect it does its job. Despite my reservations above, I did like the film and I too found it uplifting and enjoyable, but it just wasn't quite the emotional punch to the gut that I was expecting it to be.