Part of the problem is the dialogue and the forced, almost sitcom-ish way that Dana interacts with her circle of friends (which, oddly, lacks one Black or Brown person). It's not that it's bad - because it's never a waste to see Jordan act in any film role - but it's uneven, oddly paced, and feels more like a predictably maudlin Lifetime drama than an effective narrative film. So it's disappointing that this, his fourth feature film (and third adaptation) misses the mark. Since his directorial debut, Antwone Fisher, the actor-turned-director has consistently taken his time between projects usually the result is a highly personal and evocative film, like the excellent stage-to-screen adaptation of Fences, in which he also starred.
Washington's adaptation boasts talented actors but lacks a nuanced script and the on-screen chemistry necessary to elevate the drama beyond the sentimental.
Movie a journal for jordan movie#
Seeing this movie with your kids and not discussing the weighty themes would be a missed opportunity once you've gotten through the moments that make you blush, use this as a time to speak to young men about emotionality, courage, and gentlemanliness and to young women about setting boundaries, waiting for love, and choosing to love through hard times.Īn edited version of this story to remove the brief sex scene and tame the language would not hurt the story or diminish its impact. The discussions of their family histories and the frankness of their conversations, are refreshing and feel very honest. The love of the parental figures for Jordan is well developed and expressed. We also found a few comments from our fellow movie-goers to be distracting, as they appreciated the physique of the actors.Īs a story, this is stirring and emotional. The sex scene itself is abbreviated but the small amounts of nudity are enough to make a parent blush sitting next to young teens or tweens. A few, small, glaring moments did make us uncomfortable as the stars were in bed together in several scenes and the discussion turned sexual. Our family saw this film together, and we were able to talk about some deep themes and appreciate the emotion the movie brought to the surface. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails. Families can discuss the importance of communication, empathy, and perseverance, the enduring legacy of lost loved ones, and how letters and journals can keep a person's beliefs alive. Occasional strong language includes "s-t," "bitch," "wigger," and more. While the film's director and leads are Black, Dana's life centers around White best friends, and the issue of colorism is explored: Light-skinned Jordan's Blackness is disputed (or ridiculed) by classmates. There are also several scenes of Dana and Charles flirting, kissing, and eventually making love (his bare butt and both of their bare shoulders and sides are visible). Expect depictions of military violence - an explosion kills Charles and severely injures others in his unit - as well as footage from 9/11 of the planes hitting the Twin Towers. Jordan), who, while deployed post-9/11, wrote in a special journal for their unborn and then-baby son, Jordan. It tells the story of her late partner, U.S. Be sure to also take a look at our 2022 Movie Release Schedule to start planning your outings for next year.Parents need to know that A Journal for Jordan is director Denzel Washington's adaptation of former New York Times editor Dana Canedy's ( Chanté Adams) memoir. Whatever the messaging and emphasis of the memoir it’s based on, the movie reaching theaters needed a serious re-edit.Ī Journal For Jordan was written by Virgil Williams and is set to hit theaters on Christmas Day. That makes it play longer than its two hour and 11 minute runtime, and makes it that rarest of movie ‘unicorns' - a misstep by director Denzel Washington.
It’s an ungainly film that loses focus time and again, drifting off to indulge its stars with extraneous scenes and badly-handled or simply unnecessary story threads. And while Moore found the same faults as the above critics, he applauded the emotional ending, lamenting that the movie should have had more of those moments and saying it might fool viewers into thinking the film was better than it was. Roger Moore of Movie Nation gave A Journal For Jordan 2 stars out of 4. Instead of getting an inspirational story of a father and his love for his son, A Journal for Jordan delivers about 90 minutes of flat romantic dramedy, all focused on two people who are criminally ill-suited for each other (both in terms of the casting - Jordan and Adams are very talented, but these two do not have chemistry at all - and the characters themselves).
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