There is such a thing as under-acting to a point where you exude the charisma of a plant pot. The directing goes the same way, plodding along conscientiously but without any spark -- one can sense the cameras splintering out of sheer boredom.

Devastating story of abuse based on real life.

Washington makes his directorial debut with Antwone Fisher, a fact-based biography that deftly pulls the heartstrings. Granted, it covers no new ground that other psychiatrist/patient films haven't gone before.

A number of American films in recent years have essentially argued not merely for an individual solution to a patently social problem, but that one must make one's way and leave the others ... behind and the existing order unchallenged.