Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 11 nominations total
Lynda Gravatt
- Vernita Wells
- (as Lynda Gravátt)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the film there's a visible gap between Denzel Washington's two front teeth. He had the gap fixed with dental caps sometime after high school, but decided to remove them for this role.
- GoofsThe entire film happens over three weeks' time, but when it's mentioned that William is in a coma, which occurs at the beginning of the movie, Roman states that he has been in a coma for several weeks already.
- Quotes
Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Each of us is better than the worst thing we ever did.
- Alternate versionsAfter premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was re-cut by director Dan Gilroy and star Denzel Washington. The new version is 12 minutes shorter than the festival premiere. In addition to dropping some scenes, the film now features different music on the soundtrack (replacing a number of songs) and moves a scene depicting Roman and Israel going to a Lakers game at the Staples Center to an earlier point in the story.
- SoundtracksKeep On Truckin'
Written by Leonard Caston, Anita Poree and Frank E. Wilson
Performed by Eddie Kendricks
Courtesy of Motown Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Featured review
This film was Dan Gilroy's second directorial debut, and although his forte of experience is writing, he failed that department, and did better in his directing (camera work, but not his choice of editing).
The problem with the writing is the dragged out mumbo-jumbo Denzel Washington had to say to express his savant mentality, most of it not making any sense or philosophically unnecessary, and it extended into 2+ hours of doing so. Denzel carried his role so exceptionally well, that had this film been edited down to 80 or 90 mins by getting rid of the convoluted and unnecessary dialogue, it would have been dramatized much better.
Then there's the premise to the film; standing all this time for a cause, then slipping to the other side, then going back. What was the point? What was the message?
This film is nothing extraordinary, but nevertheless, Denzel and Colin Farrell's great acting were the only reason this film has as high (6.3) of a rating as it does, and would have been much lower with any sub-A list actors, or higher with better writing.
It's a generous 7/10 from me
The problem with the writing is the dragged out mumbo-jumbo Denzel Washington had to say to express his savant mentality, most of it not making any sense or philosophically unnecessary, and it extended into 2+ hours of doing so. Denzel carried his role so exceptionally well, that had this film been edited down to 80 or 90 mins by getting rid of the convoluted and unnecessary dialogue, it would have been dramatized much better.
Then there's the premise to the film; standing all this time for a cause, then slipping to the other side, then going back. What was the point? What was the message?
This film is nothing extraordinary, but nevertheless, Denzel and Colin Farrell's great acting were the only reason this film has as high (6.3) of a rating as it does, and would have been much lower with any sub-A list actors, or higher with better writing.
It's a generous 7/10 from me
- Top_Dawg_Critic
- Feb 1, 2018
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Roman J. Israel, Esq.: Un hombre con principios
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $22,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $11,962,778
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $61,999
- Nov 19, 2017
- Gross worldwide
- $13,025,860
- Runtime2 hours 2 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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