Antwone Fisher

An American film based on a real life. Antwone serves in the navy. He is a good sailor but cannot hold his temper; a word starts a fight and the disciplinary charges pile up. His commander sends him to a psychiatrist. He is allowed three sessions. In the first he does not speak. Doctor Davenport chooses to wait, and after a while Antwone begins to talk. The past is this: his father was killed before he was born, his mother gave birth in prison and the child was given to foster care. In that house he was beaten for years and suffered worse. The film runs two lines together. On one side the treatment and the relationship with the doctor; on the other Antwone deciding to look for his own family. The last section takes place in Cleveland and ends with a meeting. What the narrative is interested in is not recovery but the right to know where you came from. A gap in the doctor's own life is part of the narrative as well. Derek Luke plays Antwone; it is his first film. Denzel Washington plays the doctor and directed; it is his first film as director. Antwone Fisher wrote the screenplay himself; the narrative is based on his memoir. An effective production for anyone who likes drama based on true stories. Before you watch, know this: the film takes child abuse as a direct subject.