Roman J. Israel takes a look at honor and integrity

Grade: C+

Rating: PG-13,, 117 minutes

In a Nutshell: Sony Pictures presents a movie that is part thriller, part character study, part legal drama.

Denzel Washington is why you want to watch this movie. I loved the topic of the film, which is morality: which is more important to you: your money or your integrity?

The original title of the movie was “Inner City”, which I actually like better, because of the double meaning. While the movie presents low-income life in a big city, it’s really about the inner struggle within all of us. Roman J. Israel, Esq. explains it, “The real enemies aren’t on the outside; they’re within.” He looks at himself often in the movie, something we all need to do…not to question our appearance, but to truly look at who we are. All rise!

Uplifting theme:

Integrity, honesty, morality
The power of money
The “burden of activism”
Choices, consequences, and accountability

Things I liked:

Denzel Washington is solid, as always. It’s his performance that carries the movie. You’ll wonder about the gap between his two front teeth. He has worn caps to fix that gap ever since high school, so for this movie, he decided to remove them.
There are many meaningful themes and lessons in this film to spark some interesting conversation with the people you watch this movie with.
Colin Farrell always draws me in.
Cool hotel room at the beach with the fire pit on the balcony!
Some camera angles and sequences are interesting.
I love symbolism, like that bulldog statue.
My brother is an attorney. He’s one of the good guys. I’ve always been fascinated with people who want to study law and wonder what their motivations are and how they often change. Such an interesting field, right?

Things I didn’t like:

The movie promises an intriguing story, but it fizzles before it truly flowers. It’s directed by the talented Dan Gilroy, who also brought us the thrilling Nightcrawler Unfortunately, the story could have been so much stronger.
It’s a little slow-moving.

Interesting lines:

“I’m tired of doing the impossible for the ungrateful.” – Roman J. Israel
“The lack of success is self-imposed.” – Roman J. Israel
“The ability to have conflicting ideas in one’s head takes energy.” – Roman
“Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it.” – Bayard Rustin
“The world is for wonderful things.” – Roman J. Israel
“Every weapon is a tool if you hold it the right way.” – Ana DiFranco
“I believe because of my beliefs.” – Buddha
“An act doesn’t make a person guilty unless a person’s mind is guilty too.” – Roman (Do you agree with that statement? It’s pretty controversial, don’t you think?)
“Let us pardon each other’s folly. That is the first law of nature.” – Roman