By Spencer Coile
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Last year’s Best Actor race was highly contentious. Due to an influx of coverage surrounding sexual harassment charges, many people became uncomfortable with Casey Affleck's frontrunner status. This led some Oscar gurus to prognosticate a spoiler victory for Denzel Washington for his Fences passion project. How close the voting was we'll never know but Washington and Affleck were considered to be neck-and-neck at the end.
Still, Affleck was victorious, leaving many (most notably, Brie Larson) unhappy or furious. While the narrative is not exactly the same for the new Best Actor race, there is one common denominator: Denzel Washington.
This year, he is nominated for playing Roman J. Israel, Esq. in… you guessed it, Roman J. Israel, Esq. Though his film was not an Oscar favorite or hit in the way Fences was, it should not be denied that Washington is excellent yet again...
Roman is a savant lawyer who has worked behind the scenes for his legal partner of several decades. He prides himself on serving as an activist for the Black community and being good at his job, sticking to his routine and avoiding interaction with others. But when his partner unexpectedly dies, he is forced out of his chosen isolation and begins working for a huge law firm (run by Colin Farrell).
If this all sounds elementary, worry not. Dan Gilroy (of Nightcrawler) and Washington never take the easy way out with the story or character. The film is rich with complications and plot twists that keep Roman’s conflicts engaging and genuinely human. Importantly, the dialogue is always rapid fire and smart – almost to the point where you have to rewind just to remember what a character previously said. Roman J. Israel is refreshingly unafraid to challenge its audience and have them question the motives of the unreliable narrator.
Which leads us to Washington’s performance as Israel. To call him complex would be an understatement. Riddled with eccentricities, Washington imbues the titular character with a healthy mix of arrogance, charm, and fear. He's instantly beguiling, sporting outdated suits and listening to retro funk; it’s hard not to fall in love with him. Though he is clumsy and bumbling, he's also fiercely intelligent. Roman constantly has to monitor his behavior during social interactions. Through all of this Washington creates a loveable, flawed man.
Because Gilroy wrote his screenplay with Washington in mind, it's no surprise that that dialogue Washington utters feel so natural coming from his mouth. But interestingly, considering the “baity” nature of this character, Washington downplays all of Roman's potentially showier moments and concentrates on getting under the skin of this man. Rarely do we hear him raise his voice, nor are we subjected to scenes of him in court, passionately pleading his case. Just like the character, Roman J. Israel, Esq. is focused more on what takes place behind the curtain, and only in a few instances does Washington let us in.
One scene of particular note is a job interview Roman has with Maya (Carmen Ejogo) for an activist law firm. Feeling that the interview isn’t going well and that he won’t be hired, Roman discusses his past work and the passion he feels for what he does. During this monologue, tears falls down his face, but Washington does not call attention to them because Roman is trying to hide it himself. It just one of the deeply felt genuinely human moments that the film captures.
;)
Roman J. Israel, Esq. was unfairly maligned upon its release at TIFF, leading Gilroy to go back and trim some time off of it. Even then, it wasn't particularly well reviewed and went unseen by the general public. This is truly a shame because the film offers more fascinating insight into race relations than several of our Best Picture nominees. However, we can still take solace in the fact that Washington was nominated for his masterful work as Roman. If there were Oscar justice, he would be in the conversation for the win, just as he was last year.