Why I'm thankful for Denzel Washington, if not 'Roman J. Israel'

In his last major big screen triumph -- Fences -- Denzel Washington gave such an astonishing, all-guns blazing tour-de-force performance (which he also directed) that I wondered if he would have anything left in the tank.

And yet in Roman J. Israel, Esq he manages to do something he's never done before -- play a dork.

Even though his looks have faded, he's put on considerable weight and is well into his 60s, Denzel remains one of Hollywood's most reliable and swaggering movie icons. And in this dark period where many sacred celebrity cows are going down because of their history of sexual harassment and abuse, his relatively squeaky clean reputation makes viewing him on the big screen, at this particular moment, especially pleasurable.

If only he had a better movie to play in. Roman J. Israel, Esq, unfortunately, is one of these middle-of-the-road Denzel movies, where he is sensational but the movie is only so-so. There are some intriguing ideas in it, the bones of what could have been built up to be compelling film, but it keeps collapsing on its own contrivance and heavy handedness.

Roman J. Israel is a particularly vivid character. He's an old fashioned former radical, who never lost his affinity for the afro, '70s funk and deeply unattractive menswear. Although the movie never commits to this concept, he appears to be on the spectrum, but could also just be overtly socially awkward.

Although his outbursts can make you wince, Denzel plays him with such wit and empathy that you really feel for the guy. And it's striking to see Denzel, who almost always plays strong, formidable heroes, look so feeble and morally pliable.

But the movie around him is an unfocused mess. The character is supposed to be this idealist who finds his ethics compromised when he is for reasons that are never really justified brought into a modern shark-like firm to do pro bono criminal work.

Colin Farrell plays his antagonist, but then when the plot suits it he becomes an ally and while Farrell is a capable actor, he never seems grounded in this movie and his reactions in any given scene don't add up. And his role the movie's final moments becomes laughably absurd.

The luminous Carmen Ejogo (who played Coretta Scott King in Selma) is totally wasted here in one of the worst written women's roles in recent memory. She serves only one function in this movie -- to hero worship Roman, and I guess to remind the audience how inspirational he is supposed to be. But her emotional performance and often clunky dialogue, feel totally out place in this movie.

In fact, the movie most comes alive when Denzel's character is morally walking a thin line and begins to make decisions that threaten to permanently derail his legacy. But every time the movie seems to want to go in a darker direction (like the director Dan Gilroy's previous breakout success Nightcrawler) it returns of conventional territory.

And while for Denzel this film film fits solidly in his Oscar bid category, he will be unfortunately returning to the old man action genre with a sequel to The Equalizer, another movie undeserving of his talents, instead of more interesting fare.

That being said, he remains one of my all-time favorite actors and easily one the most exciting star presences working in the movies today. I only wish he would work with some riskier filmmakers on some more challenging material.

Roman J. Israel is some ways a start -- there are no moments where he gets to look or act cool in this movie, which feels revelatory -- but when the script lets him down, it's hard for him and the audience to get back up for the movie.