Best movie I've seen in a decade! Viola Davis is magic.

Dramatic/emotional film

Yes, Fences suffers somewhat from the bare-bones transferal of the “action” from stage to screen but the material is so compelling that viewers can easily lose sight of the movie’s “play nature.”

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Denzel Washington directed and stars in Fences, and he has translated every element of August Wilson’s play to the screen: A language that’s naturalistic yet gently poetic, a detailed sense of America at mid-century...drama that turns to melodrama at key points, characterizations that seethe and explode, the touch of the fantastic (or is it the supernatural?) that pervades most of Wilson’s stories.

Lawrence Toppman

Charlotte Observer

Fences is old-school Americana that's driven by dynamite performances all around, albeit a bit stuffy in nature.