A One Mann’s Movies review of “A Journal for Jordan” (2022).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Denzel Washington’s fourth feature behind the camera – “A Journal For Jordan” – suffers from the same fate (for me) as his 2016 film “Fences“: it’s overly long and slow to excite.
Plot Summary:
Dana Canedy (Chanté Adams) is left as a single mother to baby Jordan after her boyfriend Charles King (Michael B. Jordan) is killed while on active service in Iraq. He’s left a journal for Jordan to read when he’s older and Dana supplements this with her own writings, forcing her to reflect on their relationship.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Chanté Adams, Michael B. Jordan, Jalon Christian.
Directed by: Denzel Washington.
Written by: Virgil Williams (Based on the journal by Charles Monroe King and the book by Dana Canedy.
“A Journal For Jordan” Review:
Positives:
- Chanté Adams and Michael B. Jordan have a naturalistic chemistry in their on-screen love affair. I could really believe in it. Both actors also give solid performances, as does young Jalon Christian as the older Jordan who brilliantly delivers a very emotional reading.
- It’s also really nice to see a leading actress baring skin when she is of normal BMI and not some stick-thin TikTok wannabe stripper. It again added to the realism of the romance for me.
Negatives:
- The story comprises the following plot points (note: none of which are spoilers since the plot is provided to you within the first 5 minutes):
- Father leaves a journal
- Widowed mother writes and thinks about father
- Son reads journal
- That’s it! It’s a really simplistic story, (probably much better as the book), but Washington takes over 130 minutes to tell it. None of it is terrible. The acting, from two personable stars, is good. And the emerging love story (light as it may be) is likely to appeal to Hallmark fans everywhere! But Washington could have trimmed thirty minutes off the running time, and it would have been far more engaging.
- At times we seem to be looping through the same scenes for no great effect. Dana at one point ‘cock-blocks’ Charles in bed (in a most unrealistic – “ARE YOU KIDDING?!” – way), then has sex with the drapes closed before finally almost bonking him against the windows. What was the point? I don’t think we needed to take ten minutes seeing their sexual relationship progress in this way!
Summary Thoughts on “A Journal For Jordan”
I found this slow and as a result a bit dull. It’s far from being the worst film I’ll see this year, but it will be short in my memory. Denzel Washington should take a leaf out of Kenneth Branagh’s book, and try to make his next movie sub-90-minutes.
Trailer for “A Journal For Jordan”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOzrXqf5pvE .
