Parents' Guide to Roman J. Israel, Esq.

As in his harrowing Nightcrawler, director Dan Gilroy tells the story of a brilliant, ill-fitting outsider in a vivid workplace, but this movie fails due to puzzling, choppy character arcs. Roman J. Israel, Esq., starts promisingly, with a strong, central performance by Washington. Roman is possibly a savant; he wears old, bulky clothes and oversized glasses and is unsure of how to act around people but is extremely sure of his job. Gilroy establishes a ramshackle, stressed-out Los Angeles that's full of noise and clutter and homeless people on sidewalks. Roman navigates these things assuredly, as long as human interaction isn't required.

Then the plot kicks in. Roman's first major decision makes very little sense, according to what we've seen; subsequent decisions built on this one likewise fail to hold water. Perhaps worse, the movie's main supporting character, Farrell's powerful George Pierce, keeps changing his stance. He initially seems like a villain, then turns kind, then villainous, and finally kind again; we can't trust him, even when he seems to genuinely care about Roman. A third key character, activist lawyer Maya (Carmen Ejogo), feels completely tacked on and entirely too convenient. The whole movie leaves off with an unsatisfying thud, perhaps having done too much when less would have been more interesting.