{"id":178,"date":"2017-01-01T10:04:56","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T17:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2017\/01\/01\/fences-%e2%80%93-lives-up-to-its-award-winning-status\/"},"modified":"2017-05-09T16:18:42","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T23:18:42","slug":"fences-%e2%80%93-lives-up-to-its-award-winning-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2017\/fences-%e2%80%93-lives-up-to-its-award-winning-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Fences \u2013 Lives Up to its Award-winning Status! by Juanita Seon Leary"},"content":{"rendered":"<style> <!-- \/* Font Definitions *\/ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-520092929 1073786111 9 0 415 0;} \/* Style Definitions *\/ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:\"\"; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:8.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:8.0pt; line-height:107%;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> <\/style>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial; color: #262626;\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial; color: #262626;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fences_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Fences_1.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/.thumbs\/.Fences_1.jpg\" alt=\"Fences_1.jpg\" width=\"170\" height=\"250\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" \/><\/a>Fences <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial; color: #262626;\">is the story about an African-American father struggling with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s and coming to terms with the events of his life. KIDS FIRST! juror Juanita Seon Leary comments, \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">Adapted from the stage play by August Wilson (who also writes the screenplay), it lives up to its award- winning status.\u201d See her full review below. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">Fences,<br \/>\nBy Juanita Seon Leary, KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">I saw <em>Fences <\/em>as a play with James Earl Jones years ago and was very anxious and looking forward to seeing the filmed version. Adapted from the stage play by August Wilson (who also writes the screenplay), it lives up to its award- winning status. I am a fan of both Denzel Washington and Viola Davis who star in this film. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">Throughout the film, we see life through the eyes of Troy (Denzel Washington) an African American man struggling with issues of race and economics and all the events of his life.\u00a0 He lives with his family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">Fences<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\"> opens with Troy and Bono (Steven Henderson) riding on the garbage truck. As they work, they talk about the inequality of their jobs.\u00a0 Troy questions why \u201ca black man cannot drive the truck\u201d? He asks the question to his supervisor who is a white man and is facing possible firing. so it is thought. Troy and Bono arrive at Troy\u2019s house and we begin to learn about a fence.\u00a0 It is Friday and payday. We see Troy and Bono sharing a bottle of liquor.\u00a0 Troy tells stories and his wife Rose (Viola Davis) sits on porch and interacts to keep Troy honest. We learn about Troy\u2019s past, his excellent skills in baseball, time he served in jail and how he met Rose. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">The film has excellent scenes that let us feel and see the streets of Pittsburgh. The main center of action is the backyard. There is a baseball on a string and Troy\u2019s baseball bat.\u00a0 Rose asks Troy to build her a fence. At one point, Bono speaks to Troy about fences.\u00a0 \u201cFences are built to keep something or someone out or to keep something or someone in.\u201d He lets Troy know that Rose wants to keep him and their son Cory (Jovan Adepo) inside.\u00a0 In <em>Fences<\/em>, we see the relationship and interaction of a father with his sons. His older son, L<span style=\"color: black; background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%;\">yons (Russell Hornsby) comes by on paydays to ask for a loan and his younger son Cory wants to play football to attend college.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial; color: black; background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%;\">Fences<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial; color: black; background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%;\"> is excellent and has many lessons and messages. Because of the language and suggestive references, I recommend it for ages 14 to 18 and believe that many adults will enjoy it also. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. \u00a0It opens on December 25, 2016 so be sure to check it out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fences is the story about an African-American father struggling with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s and coming to terms with the events of his life. KIDS FIRST! juror Juanita Seon Leary comments, \u201cAdapted from the stage play by August Wilson (who also writes the screenplay), [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-critics-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions\/246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}