Roman J Israel, Esq review – this years lost ‘gem’ | Film | where did it go so wrong?

This year has already given us hit films, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Pacific Rim Uprising and Ready Player One but what comes to mind when you hear Roman J. Israel, Esq’ ? Yes this is exactly how we felt until we were invited down to an exclusive screening at London’s infamous Regent St Cinema with Kush Films.

 

Roman J. Israel, Esq American legal drama film written and directed by Dan Gilroy. The film stars Denzel WashingtonColin Farrell, and Carmen Ejogo. The plot centers around the life of an idealistic defense lawyer (Washington) who finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a personal crisis and the necessity for extreme action

Released late last year the film grossed $12 million against its $22 million budget, which to me was shocking but again not surprising given i did not see any promotion for this film? I’m not sure what happened here and how it went so wring but what i can tell you is The leads Denzel WashingtonColin Farrell, are captivating in this film.  Even supporting actress Carmen Ejogo who plays Maya was captivating.   The pitfalls i feel are mostly due to the film lacking a central ark. I also feel some of the  ’cases’ which Denzel finds himself involved in could have been explored further and given more depth thus giving  ‘me’ the audience more to grip onto and emotionally invest in.

Regardless, this film which should have got a lot more recognition. I feel was simply over shadowed by this BOX OFFICE SMASH Black Panther (film), this years ‘urban’ acknowledged film, lets not forget last year we had ‘GET OUT’. 

Not taking any credit away from this monster of a movie but Denzil’s screen presence in this film is second to none and feel this deserved a lot more critical acclaim.

For full cast details:

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) – IMDb

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6000478/

 

Kush Films

Kushfilms | The UK’s No 1 urban film site

www.kushfilms.com/