Apple TV+ continues its string of movies that should be better than they are with the Jennifer Lawrence-led (mother!, Silver Linings Playbook) Causeway. Like many of its predecessors (Swan Song, Palmer, Cherry, Greyhound, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Finch, On the Rocks), first-time director Lila Neugebauer’s Causeway benefited from a successful marketing campaign, only to leave viewers to wonder what the original hype was about. However, I’d be remiss if I left off CODA, the Best Picture winner of 2021. The streaming service has potential as a movie distributor but has laid its fair share of duds. Causeway is no exception. It’s a mediocre movie at best.
Category Archives: Stephen Henderson
Fences (2016)
We all know about Alonzo Harris (Training Day). Most of us know about Frank Lucas (American Gangster). Some of us even know Tobin Frost (Safe House). Add Troy Maxson to that list of vile characters portrayed by Denzel Washington. Okay, so the character he portrays in Fences (a movie he also directed) isn’t as bad as those depicted in the above films. He’s a different kind of evil. There is some good in Troy. He means well. But he is a complete hypocrite. He talks about doing right by others, providing for his family, and teaching them the importance of right over wrong. But in the end, Troy does only things that fill his massive ego. And in doing so, he hurts everyone who has ever cared for him.