{"id":8929,"date":"2024-11-27T12:47:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T17:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=8929"},"modified":"2024-11-27T12:47:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T17:47:50","slug":"a-journal-for-jordan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/27\/a-journal-for-jordan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Journal for Jordan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A Journal for Jordan <\/strong>(2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 131 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (some sexual content, partial nudity, drug use, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Denzel Washington\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Virgil Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Marcelo Zarvos\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Maryse Alberti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: December 25, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Chante Adams, Jalon Christian, Robert Wisdom, Tamara Tunie, Jasmine Batchelor, Marchant Davis, Susan Pourfar, Vanessa Aspillaga, Grey Henson, Johnny M. Wu, David Wilson Barnes, Spencer Squire.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $6.5M (US\/$6.6M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: *** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of the biggest clich\u00e9s in Hollywood is actors saying \u201cWhat I really want to do is direct.\u201d Not every actor is cut out for it. For every success story like Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) and Ben Affleck (Argo), there\u2019s a failure like William Shatner (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) and Steven Seagal (On Deadly Ground). Denzel Washington is a case of the former. The two-time Oscar winner (Glory, Training Day) is as gifted a filmmaker as he is an actor. I didn\u2019t see The Great Debaters, but I loved Antwone Fisher and Fences. He\u2019s got game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Denzel continues his winning streak with A Journal for Jordan<\/strong>, a moving drama based on the best-selling memoir by former New York Times editor Dana Canedy. She, in turn, based her book on journals kept by her baby\u2019s father while he served in Iraq. He met his infant son Jordan only once before he was killed in action in \u201906. He filled the pages with valuable life lessons about respecting women and what it really means to be a man. This way, he\u2019s still able to impart fatherly wisdom to his son should something happen to him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The story of Dana (Adams, Monsters and Men) and 1st<\/sup> Sgt. Charles M. King (Jordan, Creed 1 & 2) unfolds in flashback starting from when the fiercely independent reporter meets the military man in her father\u2019s living room. Something about him draws her to him. She makes up a story about needing a ride back to her hotel so she can spend time alone with him. She\u2019s a talker; he\u2019s quiet. It may not seem like an obvious match, but soon they\u2019re having long phone conversations with each other. Not long after, he comes to the city for a weekend visit. After some back and forth, they get a relationship going. Then she tells him she wants to have a baby, his baby.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Journal for Jordan<\/strong> is told within the framework of Dana raising her son on her own. Whenever things get rough, she looks through Charles\u2019 stuff and thinks back to their time together in order to figure out her next move. She finally gives the journal to Jordan (Christian, Selfie Dad) when he encounters racism at school (he\u2019s about 12).<\/p>\n

\u00a0So many movies leave me feeling hollow these days. Genuine emotion doesn\u2019t factor in when it comes to big, CGI-driven Hollywood spectacles. There\u2019s no room for it between all the noise and flash. I can\u2019t speak for others, but I\u2019m not always looking to be blown away. Sometimes I want to see a story about real characters in real situations. Sometimes I want to fight the urge to cry and I don\u2019t mean the exasperated sobbing resulting from crap like Dear Evan Hansen (oh, how I hate that movie!). I\u2019m happy to report A Journal for Jordan<\/strong> left me with a huge lump in my throat. The dramatic finale at Arlington National Cemetery really got to me.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Also, I genuinely cared about the characters. That doesn\u2019t happen very often. I knew going in there would be no happily ever after for Dana and Charles which only made their scenes together more poignant. Theirs is a sweet relationship that evolves naturally out of feelings for each other. They are truly in love. Sure, A Journal for Jordan<\/strong> has a few trappings of the romance genre including her tight-knit group of girlfriends and gay bff. There\u2019s that one incident that nearly breaks them up before a tearful apology and reunion. They\u2019re conventions of the genre, but they feel more real here than other films of the ilk. Why? Because both halves of the couple are likable, imperfect but likable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The acting in A Journal for Jordan<\/strong> is positively superb. Jordan is great, versatile actor with incredible range. He can do it all, he can play it all, from a Marvel villain (Black Panther) to a real-life victim of racial injustice (Fruitvale Station). We won\u2019t talk about the rotten Fantastic Four reboot. Jordan can add another terrific performance to his already-impressive resume. He has excellent chemistry with the lovely Chante Adams. She\u2019s wonderful as the journalist looking for her voice amidst the sexism in her chosen profession. Writing a best-selling book is a brilliant way of achieving just that. This woman has a lot of talent and she\u2019s beautiful too. Young Christian does fine work as the boy who will definitely become the kind of man that would make his father proud.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There\u2019s a lot to love and admire about A Journal for Jordan<\/strong>. Although it deals with the Iraq War, it doesn\u2019t get all in your face with a political agenda. Yes, it\u2019s sad and angering that Charles dies in a senseless war, but Denzel stays away from politics. For that, I thank him. Do we really need another movie intended to divide audiences? HELL NO! What\u2019s wrong with a nice love story that ends in tragedy and triumph? I say make more movies like that. Thank you very much, Denzel.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal for Jordan (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 131 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (some sexual content, partial nudity, drug use, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Denzel Washington\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Virgil Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Marcelo Zarvos\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Maryse Alberti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: December 25, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Chante Adams, Jalon Christian, Robert Wisdom, Tamara Tunie, Jasmine Batchelor, Marchant Davis, Susan Pourfar, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Journal-for-Jordan-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8929"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9256,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8929\/revisions\/9256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}