By: Andrew Wing

A Journal for Jordan is a 2021 American drama film directed by Denzel Washington (also directed films such as Antwone Fisher, The Great Debaters, and Fences) and starring Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) and Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne, The Photograph). The film is written by Virgil Williams (was a writer for the TV series 24, and also co-wrote Mudbound), and is based on the memoir A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor by Dana Canedy (Adams’ character).

The film was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on December 25, 2021.

THE GOOD

This was definitely one of those films that just snuck up on me. This December has been packed with both blockbusters and awards contenders, so I apologize. Needless to say, once I saw the trailer for this movie that is based on an amazing true story along with the names attached, I knew I had to check it out. And although I had my flaws with it, I am still glad I did get the chance to see it.

I won’t waste any time, the main attraction here is Michael B. Jordan. Both because well he is an attractive fella to say the least, but also because he is one of the biggest names in the industry today. Yes, he has got the looks and the body, but the guy is a supremely gifted actor. Find me someone who hasn’t loved the Creed films that he has starred in. I wish you good luck. But he is also responsible for playing one of the best MCU villains of all time as Killmonger in Black Panther.

Enough of that though, let’s get into his performance in A Journal for Jordan. He plays the late 1st Sergeant Charles Monroe King, who after being deployed in Iraq, keeps a journal of love and advice for his infant son, Jordan. I really liked MBJ’s performance in this. It is nowhere near his best work, but I thought he did an excellent job at embodying this hero of a man in the most authentic and best way possible. He also just knows how to put a smile on the viewer’s face as he just has a way with words as an actor. Just another overall very solid performance from MBJ and there is no denying that his future is very very bright!

I was also impressed with the screenplay we got here from Virgil Williams. With this being based on a true story, the screenplay is obviously based on the memoir written by King’s late partner, and Jordan’s mother, Dana Canedy. It is no easy task to adapt a memoir into a feature film, but Virgil Williams did it in a very well-mannered way that was both sweet and dramatic at times. I still need to check out Mudbound, but now I will definitely be moving it up the list after seeing that he was a co-writer for it because I am now a fan of his!

In conclusion, I liked this movie overall. I will get into my problems with it a little later, but this movie did everything I expected it to. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it moved me. I just hope more people will check it out because it really is a beautiful story of a man who keeps a journal full of love and advice for his infant son to read as he grows up while he is off fighting in Iraq.

THE BAD

As I said, I liked this movie overall and I hope my readers do go ahead and check it out if they get the chance, but there are just some glaring flaws that this movie has that are tough to ignore as someone with a critical eye. The first being that the movie is way too damn long. I don’t often critique a film’s run time as this year I have watched movies over 150 minutes long, but unlike this movie (131 minutes long), those movies utilized every minute. I mean I didn’t fall asleep, but there were definitely a couple of times where I checked the time.

A big reason for the movie feeling as long as it did in my opinion ties into Denzel Washington’s direction he took this film in. I am probably the last person on earth who should give the Denzel Washington directorial advice, but it just felt from watching that he didn’t know where he wanted to go with this story. At times it was this dramatic film about war that focused more on Michael B. Jordan and how he handles life in the war vs. life back home, while at other times it really felt like I was watching a corny Lifetime romance movie. No offense to Lifetime movies, but if I wanted that I would have stayed at home and watched one with my mom. The good news is Denzel Washington is still arguably the greatest actor of all-time and this is really his first real misfire of his brief directing career, but his filmmaking simply does nothing to elevate the material here.

Lastly, none of the performances outside of Michael B. Jordan really did anything for me. Chanté Adams was okay I guess, but she is still fairly inexperienced when it comes to being a lead actress in feature films and it showed in some of the film’s more climactic scenes unfortunately.

THE VERDICT

While it had its fair share of flaws due to too long of a runtime and also no clear direction, A Journal for Jordan is still a solid enough moving drama with a good performance from Michael B. Jordan. The film will certainly have you tearing up as it tells the beautiful true story of the late 1st Sergeant Charles Monroe King, a soldier who after being deployed in Iraq, keeps a journal of love and advice for his infant son, Jordan, for him to read as he grows up.