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23
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34
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60
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32
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27
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41
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39
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46
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78
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55
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66
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69
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58
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47
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66
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34
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33
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54
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67
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63
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86
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30
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83
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33
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45
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47
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96
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35
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28
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88
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71
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67
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Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Five Minutes of Heaven
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Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
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28
Free Style
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Fuel
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50
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72
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89
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52
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66
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81
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xx
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63
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73
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xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
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94
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29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
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61
Intimate Enemies
42
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70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
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41
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41
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66
Liverpool
34
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80
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59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
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48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
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Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
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Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
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79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
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77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
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46
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39
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89
Still Walking![]()
50
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55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
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61
Trucker
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83
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66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
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67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
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69
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xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Antwone Fisher
EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 46 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Antwone Fisher
Directed by: Denzel Washington
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 19, 2002
DVD: May 20, 2003
Running Time: 113 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for violence, language and mature thematic material involving child abuse
Starring Derek Luke, Joy Bryant, Denzel Washington, Salli Richardson, Earl Billings, Kevin Connolly, Viola Davis, and Rainoldo Gooding
The story of a man who digs inside himself to discover therein lies a king...A sailor with an explosive attitude, Fisher (Luke) is ordered to see a naval psychiatrist (Washington) about his volatile temper. Little did he know that his first step into the doctor's office would lead him on a journey home. (Fox Searchlight)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Great Debaters
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A deceptively simple movie with a deeply felt message.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Antwone Fisher has a confrontation with his past, and a speech to the mother who abandoned him, and a reunion with his family, that create great, heartbreaking, joyous moments.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Emotionally honest, feel-good saga with a universality that stands out in a season of singularly depressing and cynical Hollywood product.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
Washington, typically, is rock-solid in front of the camera, conveying ample warmth and sympathy. Behind the camera, he's a relatively straightforward storyteller, strategic in his use of lyrical touches.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Washington brings it off with an unforced and well-earned emotional wallop, and whose strong hand, keen eye, sweet spirit and good taste are reflected in almost every scene.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
The film offers an impressive melding of quietly radical images and ideas with, yes, an old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing holiday tearjerker.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
An assured directorial debut that goes straight for the tear ducts.
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Blessedly free of the self-righteous histrionics and sentimentality that so often cheapen powerful personal stories.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Corny. But it's corny in a way that a Hollywood movie about a boy who just wants to go home ought to be corny. Plus when it's done with this much care, corny works for me.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
There are a few occasions when Antwone Fisher crosses the line to become too syrupy -- For the most part, however, the production radiates emotional honesty.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The rare sort of movie that gives predictability a good name.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The uniformly fine performances are a tribute to Washington, who plays the shrink with his customary command.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
A good film that, with a little extra care, could have been great.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Rarest and most impressive of all, Antwone Fisher is a serious drama set in the African American community, one that showcases powerful, confrontational scenes between black actors.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
A movie so profoundly in touch with its own feelings that it transcends its formulaic tics.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
If treats like this are evidence of Washington's special gifts as a filmmaker, Antwone Fisher promises great things for the future.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
With all its pedestrian moments, the film still has the power to sweep you up.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A safety-first, tried-and-true inspirational story that stays the course right down to its "It's a Wonderful Life" ending.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Denzel Washington's directorial debut reminds me of a 60s British movie called "The Mark": it's liberal minded, heartwarming, sincere, and consequently somewhat old-fashioned and stodgy.
Read Full Review >Variety Eddie Cockrell
Washington reveals himself to be a filmmaker with a clean, uncluttered storytelling style. Too often, overtly inspirational material such as this can become strident or mawkish.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Steve Simels
But there's a vaguely self-congratulatory tone to the screenplay that's a bit off-putting.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Affecting but formulaic.
New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Should be remembered for a pair of performers -- Derek Luke and Viola Davis, whose cameo as the mother who abandoned him cuts through the sap like an acetylene torch.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
This is the brand of sentimentality that comes with a high concentration of saccharine and every taste of bitterness safely removed.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Has warmth and integrity, but it lacks the urgency of a story that had to be told.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Although it's touching and sincere, Washington's directorial debut is weakened by a too-slow pace and a story that offers few real surprises.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
There's nothing in either the conception or execution to lift it above a TV-movie tear-jerker.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
In the hands of lesser mortals, this would add up to perhaps the worst movie of the year. In the hands of Denzel Washington, it manages to work magic on some who might not tolerate such shenanigans from, say, Chris Columbus.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rick Kisonak
A competently calibrated feel-good machine. It's as effective as anything on The Lifetime Channel. Which is likely where this project would have wound up were it not for the involvement of Washington.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
Washington directs with proficient blandness charged only occasionally by organic acting moments.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Directed without a shred of imagination by Denzel Washington -- Antwone Fisher masks a behind-the-scenes story that's far more inspiring than the phony uplift that makes it onto the screen.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Tim J. gave it a10:
This movie was amazing.
Ff w. gave it a9:
Excellent movie...inspirational...especially at the conclusion.
Livi K. gave it a9:
I great movie, about finding yourself though others. And changing your view on life.
Pat C. gave it a9:
Slightly claustrophobic, but otherwise a real gem. It is always a pleasure to watch a briskly-presented and intelligent film.
Carl W. gave it a 9:
Unfortunately emotional films are branded as claptrap today. If you enjoy honest emotion and have tired of coming away form a movie feeling like you need an immediate shower you should enjoy this.
K. David gave it a 7:
What I don't understand is that the real life story took place back in the sixties but the movie shows that it took place back in the eighties to early nineties. Y was that?
B. B. gave it a 0:
The movie was very blah!!!!!! the movie sucked and i'd never want to see another movie like it.
