Joel Siegel Reviews 'Antwone Fisher'
Dec. 24 -- Opening in theaters: Evelyn, The Pianist, and Antwone Fisher.
Evelyn — Not so long ago, it was the law in Ireland that children abandoned by their mother became wards of the Church.
When Pierce Brosnan's wife leaves him, he loses his daughter, Evelyn.
Brosnan's character has one option. Go to court. Fight the law. In Ireland, in the early 1950s, that meant fighting the church as well. And the Irish court had never overturned a law like this before.
Based on the real-life story of Desmond Doyle, Brosnan's performance is just as true as the story. He isn't putting on an accent — or airs. He is Irish, from a working-class background.
Brosnan told me he is prouder of this work than anything else he's done. He has every reason to be. It's a moving, inspirational family film about family. My recommendation? See it with yours. Grade: B+
The Pianist — Another true story: Adrien Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, Poland's foremost young pianist. The film opens with him playing Chopin, live on Polish radio. Then we hear the explosion of Nazi bombs. The invasion has begun.
Directed for the ages by Roman Polanski — a Holocaust survivor — The Pianist follows Szpilman as he escapes a concentration camp, survives the Warsaw ghetto, and is rescued is saved a day before the war ends by a German officer.
Brody, in a remarkable performance (for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination and may well be nominated for an Oscar) actually learned to play piano and lost 30 pounds from his already slight frame. He told me he did it, in part, for realism, but even more out of respect for the real pianist, who did survive.Grade: A
Antwone Fisher — This is Denzel Washington's directorial debut. He waited until he found a powerful story he wanted to tell — and he tells it with the same meticulous care he brings to his performances.
This is another true story, and the story behind the film is almost as heart-rending and life-affirming as the film itself. The real Antwone Fisher was working as a guard on the lot at Sony Pictures. He befriended a producer and told him his story.
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