Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: November 17, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
19
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
93
IGNWilliam BibbianiNov 9, 2017
Fiercely intelligent and deeply suspenseful, Roman J. Israel, Esq. is an absorbing morality tale from writer/director Dan Gilroy, and boasts one of Denzel Washington’s finest performances. Read full review
83
The Film StageChristopher SchobertSep 16, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq. might not be the courtroom drama fans have been expecting. Instead, it’s a character study filled with insight and originality. Read full review
80
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 16, 2017
Even in the film’s less successful moments, I admired the loose shagginess of it all. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayNov 24, 2017
One of the great strengths of Roman J. Israel, Esq. is that no one is any one thing. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldNov 21, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq., isn’t as good as the performance at its center, but perhaps that’s inevitable. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyNov 18, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq. doesn’t quite have the same frayed-wire electricity as "Nightcrawler," but what it does have on its side is Denzel Washington. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 16, 2017
There’s a lot going on here, but Washington’s complex, emotionally turbulent performance makes it all work. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 16, 2017
Washington digs so deep under the skin of this complex character that we almost breath with him. It's a great, award-caliber performance in a movie that can barely contain it. Read full review
70
TheWrapJames GreenbergNov 17, 2017
Perhaps this is Gilroy’s way of working out his own idealism. It’s a nice thought even if it doesn’t entirely work dramatically. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 16, 2017
Though the film is completely worth seeing just to experience such a totally realized performance and hear Gilroy's always sharp dialogue, the reality and complexity of the character turns out to clash with plotting that is not as convincing. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlNov 14, 2017
The drama is mostly interior, and Washington’s quiet performance tends to reveal the jittery surface rather than the tortured soul. Neither it nor the script is incisive enough to make Israel’s abandonment of his principles fascinating. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinSep 16, 2017
This is a formula movie but Gilroy is no hack. He hits the expected beats but with more color and depth than you expect. Read full review
68
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpDec 21, 2017
Gilroy isn’t a drudge, of course, and Washington is Washington. If nothing else, the film rides on his mesmerizing performance and on Gilroy’s talent for character study. But after Nightcrawler, seeing Roman J. Israel, Esq. coast on craft rather than on transgression is nothing short of a letdown. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovNov 30, 2017
A courtroom drama with a twist, this second feature from "Nightcrawler" writer/director Dan Gilroy features one of the best performances of Washington’s career. Read full review
67
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerNov 16, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq. is sometimes a compelling movie and often a difficult one to keep with, but it’s a flawed challenge that you’ll be grateful you gave a chance all the same. Read full review
67
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 16, 2017
Gilroy has fashioned a character study that has moments that are incredibly well written.... What’s extremely disappointing is that the screenplay’s through line is simply not that interesting. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 22, 2017
Even when the movie loses its way narratively, Washington’s in there, slugging, building a living, breathing character out of Gilroy’s knight-errant. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 22, 2017
You’re left with another Denzel Washington performance that gets under your skin and stays there, rankling away. That’s a lot more than most movies offer — even the better ones. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonNov 21, 2017
What does work is Washington’s subtle, authentic, meticulous work as a walled-off, neurodiverse man. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerSep 16, 2017
The plot finds loopholes as it rambles ahead semi-plausibly to its conclusion. Audiences will no doubt applaud this entertaining film, but the case is under appeal. Read full review
60
EmpireSimon BraundJan 29, 2018
A worthy but wordy look at the inequities of the US legal system, saved by a handful of terrific scenes and a tour-de-force turn from Washington. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 23, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a surpassingly strange, often frustrating movie. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 22, 2017
It's interesting to ponder how well Roman J. Israel, Esq. would have worked had Washington passed on the role. Thankfully, we don't have to ponder too long -- because Washington, indeed, took it, and he is terrific. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Nov 16, 2017
Washington is terrific as Roman. The character may be unclear, but the actor’s commitment is focused, and his anger and indignation are sharp and painful. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 16, 2017
Denzel Washington gives a terrifically off-kilter performance in Roman J. Israel, Esq., a fascinating and flawed character study that frustratingly can’t meld all its ambitions into a coherent and satisfying whole. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanSep 16, 2017
It leaves us with a character you won’t soon forget, but you wish that the movie were as haunting as he is. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinSep 16, 2017
Unfortunately, something at the center just doesn’t hold, and it flies apart over the course of 133 minutes into confusing shards of plot, legalese-heavy monologues and, perhaps most surprising of all given Gilroy’s bona fides, a touch of soggy sentimentality in the home stretch. Read full review
58
IndieWireEric KohnSep 16, 2017
Rather than developing Roman’s conundrum, Roman J. Israel, Esq. settles for a prosaic character study laid out in painfully obvious terms, with a tacked-on twist in the third act just so that the story can find some way to end. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 28, 2017
Forget that [Washington’s] lumpy, “on the spectrum” character turn is designed to attract Oscar attention, and maybe this overlong but engaging character study in crisis goes down easier. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 22, 2017
I usually give writer/director Tony Gilroy the benefit of the doubt because he has scripted some of my favorite films but Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a few steps too far in the wrong direction. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 22, 2017
Roman is bad at doing good, so when he starts showing promise in the other moral direction, it hardly seems like a tragedy. It seems like a smart career move. Plus, he gets to wear decent suits and finally starts looking like Denzel Washington. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 21, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq. has pockets of intrigue, and writer-director Gilroy and Washington have teamed up to create a promising dramatic character. We just never get full delivery on that promise. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 21, 2017
Denzel Washington’s labored portrayal of a shambling legal savant named Roman J. Israel, Esq. is the least of the movie’s worries. This is a story of shifting ethics that should be dramatic, but shaky logic prevents that from happening. Read full review
50
The AtlanticDavid SimsNov 20, 2017
One element is consistent throughout Roman J. Israel, Esq.—the enigmatic lead, played with typical dedication and forcefulness by Denzel Washington. But even though he’s fully committed to the role, this movie is anything but, aimlessly weaving between story ideas like a distracted driver. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergNov 16, 2017
It offers tonal whiplash for viewers, with several potentially great ideas that don’t settle into a coherent whole. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 16, 2017
Mr. Gilroy’s new film doesn’t try for lean. When its lawyer hero isn’t citing legal precedent, he uses spectacularly florid language that reflects his unusual mental state. But there’s a disconnect between what we see and hear and what we’re meant to feel. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Nov 15, 2017
It’s the rare instance when you can see this great actor laboriously acting. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 20, 2017
A committed Denzel Washington is wasted in a legal drama that never gets around to making closing arguments. Read full review
40
VoxEmily VanDerWerffNov 16, 2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq. is the most frustrating kind of movie there is: one that almost succeeds, and is more disappointing because it doesn’t. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovNov 9, 2017
Throughout the film, a promising character study is smothered beneath lazy genre machinations. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonNov 17, 2017
But don’t be fooled! This is not Oscar bait at all. Roman J. Israel, Esq. is the kind of horrendous hot mess an actor makes directly after he wins the Oscar. Read full review
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