Producers and filmmakers race to get their movies finished in time for glitzy film festival premieres, but there can be a downside to that rush. While there are big dividends if your film becomes the awards season talk of the Toronto International Film Festival, if reviews are mixed, your movie can quickly drop out of the conversation. The latter was the unfortunate fate of Dan Gilroy‘s highly anticipated “Roman J. Israel, Esq” starring Denzel Washington. A last minute addition to the festival, critics weren’t sure what to make of the movie that was an uneven mix of legal thriller and a study about the sacrifices to hanging on to your idealism. Currently sitting at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, the filmmakers are hoping critics give it another shot.
Deadline reveals that following the premiere at TIFF, Gilroy took “Roman J. Israel, Esq” right back to the editing room, and working his brother John Gilroy and Washington to get the movie in shape. Calling the premiere a “very high end test screening,” they realized some major adjustments had to made.
“We wanted to make that festival but realized, watching with that crowd, that Denzel so inhabits and embodies his character that we could lean much more into the plot than we had. We re-conceived the balance of the movie, in crucial sections,” Gilroy explained.
In addition to cutting 12 minutes, and making significant changes to the soundtrack and score, Gilroy moved following scene up in the narrative, so it occurs earlier in the movie, and lands with more impact, and sets the tone for the movie:
….a scene where Farrell’s lawyer character takes Israel to a Lakers game, and drops his polished veneer to express a longing to embrace his former teacher’s morality lessons. He wants to become a different lawyer and sees the teacher’s partner, Roman J. Israel, Esq., as the linchpin for that ambition. This happens after Israel has gotten himself in serious trouble with dangerous criminals, in pursuit of the material trappings he avoided his whole life.
Whether or not these edits can smooth out the choppy movie remains to be seen, but we’ll know soon enough as “Roman J. Israel, Esq” is still scheduled to open in limited release on November 10th before going wide on November 17th.