Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy, 2017)

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy, 2017)

#26 Post by Ribs » Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:11 am

Roman J. Israel, Esq.'s catchphrases are a bit like the catchphrases are in Broadway Danny Rose, they're tiny little asides he slips into conversation that makes him seem clever but as you stay with the film you realize it's just the same thing over and over again and he's just a deeply repetitive person. I don't know if that's deliberate here as I feel it is with Allen's film, though.
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He answers the phone, as he does repeatedly throughout the film, by responding to a voice we haven't heard (presumably saying "I'm X, do you remember me?") by saying "of course I remember you, that's why I gave you my card!" It's the same type of overly-specific catchphrase that Gilroy used in Nightcrawler with the whole "gotta buy a ticket to win the lottery" thing.

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Black Hat
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
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Re: Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy, 2017)

#27 Post by Black Hat » Wed Dec 13, 2017 4:20 am

Ribs wrote:Roman J. Israel, Esq.'s catchphrases are a bit like the catchphrases are in Broadway Danny Rose, they're tiny little asides he slips into conversation that makes him seem clever but as you stay with the film you realize it's just the same thing over and over again and he's just a deeply repetitive person. I don't know if that's deliberate here as I feel it is with Allen's film, though.
SpoilerShow
He answers the phone, as he does repeatedly throughout the film, by responding to a voice we haven't heard (presumably saying "I'm X, do you remember me?") by saying "of course I remember you, that's why I gave you my card!" It's the same type of overly-specific catchphrase that Gilroy used in Nightcrawler with the whole "gotta buy a ticket to win the lottery" thing.
I didn't pick up on this at all. The character seemed to be suffering from a form of autism which was a problematic part of the whole thing for me.

Ultimately this isn't a great movie, not even a good one but it is a throwback to an age of bad movies you'd leave on and watch for a bit if you'd happen to find it while flipping thru channels.

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bearcuborg
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:30 am
Location: Philadelphia via Chicago

Re: Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy, 2017)

#28 Post by bearcuborg » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:23 am

Just caught this yesterday, and while I don’t think it quite pulls off it’s ending (it didn’t absolve Roman from anything)-Denzel really put a lot of his talent into this project. First the cinematography and locations were fantastic. At first it was almost hard to place it in Los Angeles-even the camera movements didn’t feel much like a legal thriller. As Roman begins to sell out we start to see Los Angeles in ways were usually accustomed to, with clear vistas of downtown, and even the image gets brighter it seems.

I loved the jazz jokes, and the awkward lecture he gives - a bit of PC nuttiness. Pretty much everything he did, from his frumpy dress sense, to his nappy hair was delightful. Even Colin was solid here. I wish we had gotten more of the talented Carmen Ejogo.

Denzel has really made a wonderful transition in playing these complicated and deeply flawed men, as in Flight, and Fences.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy, 2017)

#29 Post by Ribs » Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:25 pm

I think what it goes for is an old-fashioned morality play, that this man has lived a life entirely of virtue and finally must get comeuppance for indulging in sin for this three-week period. I've discussed this here and in other threads but it's a movie I've really warmed to a lot in retrospect even though I do still think its entire plot and in particular conclusion is fairly hilarious.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy, 2017)

#30 Post by knives » Wed Mar 28, 2018 1:46 pm

knives wrote:Honestly I'm in the mood for Dan Gilroy's cheap '90s Cinemax thriller so I guess this is for me.
Checks out. The movie is not really successful, but it is mightily pleasurable which puts it ahead of a lot of the catchup viewing I've been doing from the last year. Give me Denzel Washington doing his best work in decades in the middle of a silly melodrama over the repetitive platitudes of The Square.

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