Antwone Fisher, based on its subject’s real-life story, with some characters and events fictionalized, is overwhelming evidence that Denzel Washington knows great material when he sees it. Fisher’s screenplay and Washington’s obvious skill at directing actors make for a strong, upscale box-office entry. The key will be to what degree Washington as both director and actor will draw. Critical support should help bring the traffic the film deserves.



A family drama about a troubled sailor from an abusive and violent background discovering his lost family and surviving against all odds, Antwone Fisher features a startling breakthrough performance from the relatively unknown Derek Luke in the title role. Fisher, stationed at the San Diego Naval Base, comes to the attention of Navy psychiatrist Dr. Jerome Davenport (Washington) when the sailor’s out-of-control anger gets him into fight after fight. Fisher, at first resisting therapy, remains stubbornly silent during sessions. And the determined Davenport counters with stubborn patience.



Soon, Fisher, intelligent and determined, understands the futility of keeping silent and begins to share his Cleveland background. It’s a sadly familiar litany of abandonment, abusive foster homes, reform school, life on the streets, and a dangerous proximity to crime when his best buddy is shot dead during a hold-up. Fisher takes refuge in the Navy, but, until Davenport’s intervention after so many violent outbursts, he appears to be under the control of his many demons. When he develops a relationship with Cheryl (Joy Bryant), who works in a Navy store, more problems come to the fore. Fisher, nearly 25, confesses to Davenport that he is a virgin. The therapy session reveals that Fisher was the victim of sexual abuse in his foster home beginning when he was only six.



After Davenport convinces the sailor that it is critical that he return to Cleveland to try to discover his real family, Fisher and Cheryl make the trip. The search is challenging: His biological mother gave birth to him in prison, then abandoned him. Around the same time, his father was murdered by a jealous girlfriend. Still, hard work and sleuthing pay off. Although Fisher’s mother remains a disturbed adult now living in the projects, he discovers other relatives—members of a warm, loving and obviously prospering family that, in a tear-generating development for the protagonists and audience, embraces both him and Cheryl.



Antwone Fisher is so beautifully acted and directed, it’s clear that Washington most certainly has a new career ahead of him if he so chooses. Yet not all of Washington’s choices work: The wide screen and considerable length don’t always dovetail well with what is an intimate human drama, although the many close-ups help. And an anemic subplot involving the denial and pain in what appears to be Davenport’s perfect marriage seems more grafted on than organically integrated into the film. Still, Antwone Fisher is an exceptionally enriching cinematic experience that upscale audiences will appreciate.