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Antwone Fisher

Produced by the talented up-and-coming screenwriter, Antwone Fisher is an autobiographical tale brought to life by Denzel Washington in his directorial debut. This movie tells the heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of a young man's power to overcome everything life has relentlessly thrown at him.

We are introduced to Antwone Fisher (Derek Luke) as a somewhat anti-social, temperamental young Navy seaman who has difficulty controlling his anger. Incapable of maintaining stable relationships, he gets into fights with fellow seamen and has trouble talking to the girl for which he has feelings. As a result of his brawls, he is sent to a Navy psychologist, Jerome Davenport (Denzel Washington), to receive anger management treatment. Antwone, at first, is predictably unresponsive and resentful of therapy sessions and the first few are spent in silence with Jerome calmly filling the time with paperwork. Eventually, however, Antwone opens up to Jerome for the sake of boredom, if nothing else. The bond that later develops between them results in Antwone reliving the painful, buried memories of his past that have festered in him over the years.

Derek Luke’s transition of Antwone from a defensive, quick-tempered, intimidating young man into a victimized, vulnerable and emotionally scarred boy is stunning and most movingly portrayed in the recital of his poem, "Who Will Cry for the Little Boy?".

From being born in a prison to being abandoned by his mother to being sexually molested and physically abused as a child by his foster family, Antwone has been through hell. Only when he flees to the Navy does he find how seriously these things have affected his life.

When Antwone’s sessions with Jerome inevitably come to an end, Jerome suggests that Antwone perform the last step of his therapy himself, by finding his biological family. No matter what you are expecting to happen when he does this, it is pulled off with elegance, poignance, and honesty.

Antwone Fisher's most admirable feature is not its realistic portrayal of a young man beaten down by the circumstances of his life ... it isn't even the brilliant acting performed by Denzel Washington or the shining debut of Derek Luke. The most powerful feature of this movie is watching Antwone overcome it all with inspiring grace.

Written by: Savannah Bobo

Reviewers Rating: 8
Reader's Rating: 9.43
Reader's Votes: 7

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