Good Fences

I believe some of the past "critics" are delving too deep. I don't believe this movie was supposed to be a upbeat comedy of such. This is a dark comedy/drama and a portrayal of the way a specific family dealt with engaging with the white community in a time when that was not easily done. I believe the scenes with 'Mabel' showing the bored housewife over the course of many years shows how more and more depressed over the situation she has become. She has lost touch with herself, her identity, her roots. She makes a statement saying that all she has to do is "listen to Tom" instead of listening to God. The son feels as if he is out of touch with his "people" and struggles to regain that sense of himself, while the sister shows that in the end, she has rejected all that makes her Black. Tom has let the influence of his childhood (almost getting lynched, struggling against white America) influence how he acts in the present. He rejects the things that make him unique (being Black), even though those things impact everything about him daily. This movie has little to do with "racial motivations" and such. It has more to do with Blacks finding their way while not losing themselves in a predominately white world. This movie is a great movie to show the other side of the coin. Black people (and minorities of color) have to deal with trying to fit in to multiple "lives" and find a way to incorporate all of them without losing a sense of self. Danny and Whoopi did a great job of portraying this, even if it did obviously make others thumb up their noses.

There is a lot of undertone and subtle humor that not everyone will pick up in this movie. I found it highly intriguing and I could not help to compare my current situation to theirs, as I am moving to an even less diverse all white neighborhood tomorrow. It helped to be reminded that we shouldn't lose our own identities within the environments we live in. It think ABCs "Blackish" tackles this issue much more humorously. The issue with the patriarch in this movie is that he has internalized racism, which is something that is not talked about enough and is becoming widespread.

Given the two big stars,this was a monumental disappointment. Predictable, stale, and full of cliches Boring!

I enjoyed this movie quite a lot. I have always been a fan of Whoopi Goldberg and this movie only emphasizes it. She portrays a housewife in an African-American family which is moving up the social chain due to the husband's (Danny Glover) success as an attorney. She moves to an all white neighborhood where the people are friendly, yet a little awkward toward her. The various events that arise during the course of the movie make for SOME laughs but mostly appeal to the other emotions. This movie is not so much a comedy as a drama. I give it a strong 8/10. I highly recommend you catch it on TV or rent it soon.

I have actually never seen or even heard about this 2003 movie titled "Good Fences" from writer Trey Ellis and director Ernest R. Dickerson before now in 2022, as I had the opportunity to watch it. And seeing that the movie had Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg in the leading roles, of course I opted to watch the movie.

Well, "Good Fences" was sort of a mixed bag of nuts. The movie started out rather well and was pretty good up until about midway through. At that point the movie just sort of settled into a slump and started to lose its momentum, becoming somewhat of a slow paced drag to sit through the last half.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and both Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg carried the movie quite well with their performances.

Right, well I can now tick this movie off of the list, however I can in all honesty say that this is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time.

All in all, then "Good Fences" was sort of a less than mediocre movie experience. My rating of "Good Fences" lands on a four out of ten stars.