I hope Sony Pictures knew what they were doing when they greenlit Denzel Washington’s A Journal for Jordan. Early word is negative on Washington’s third film as director. Are you surprised? The film screened on November 11th to tepid reactions.
The trailer for the film features the line “Always be courageous in everything you do, but never be afraid to cry." Yikes.
This is the true story of Dana Canedy’s fiancé, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, who began to write what would become a two-hundred-page journal for his son in case he did not make it home from the war in Iraq. He was killed by a roadside bomb on October 14, 2006. His son, Jordan, was seven months old. The film has the son, all grown up, looking back on his father’s life.
The term made-for-TV holiday special keeps popping in my head with this one.
“A Journal for Jordan” stars Michael B. Jordan as Charles, and Chanté Adams as Dana, with Tamara Tunie, Robert Wisdom, Vanessa Aspillaga, and Jalon Christian. It opens in theaters exclusively on Christmas Day.
Washington has had a decent track record as a director with “Fences,” “The Great Debaters,” and “Antwone Fisher.” By the looks of it, this one is DOA (unless it surprises at the Holiday box-office, but critical support it will probably not get).