Denzel Washington Is An Abrasive Crusader For Justice In Roman J. Israel, Esq. Trailer

Denzel Washington is teaming up with award-winning Nightcrawler filmmaker Dan Gilroy for the legal drama/character study Roman J. Israel, Esq., and you can see the first trailer for the anticipated picture now.

Set to Kendrick Lamar's optimism-in-the-face-of-adversity anthem "i", the trailer sees Washington's principled, idealistic, and extremely annoying defense attorney fighting injustice at every turn, even when it damages his reputation, his livelihood, or endangers his life.

The role is already being hailed as a command performance by the Academy Award-winning actor, who removed his dental caps for the role to rid himself of his movie star smile. Combined with the dorky costuming, the effect has Washington's Israel looking like an awkward, struggling schlub for the first time in what feels like a long while—Alonzo Harris he is not.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. is the second film to be directed by Gilroy, who made serious waves in 2014 with his intense Jake Gyllenhaal-starring character study Nightcrawler. That movie had a laser focus on Gyllenhaal's chracter, the alarmingly sociopathic and socially strange Lou Bloom. This feature appears to center similarly on the trials of a socially awkward misfit, but this one's on the side of the light.

Coming from Columbia Pictures, Roman J. Israel, Esq. had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10. It will be released widely in the US on November 3.