A Journal for Jordan

Adams is a vivacious screen presence with a twinkle in her eye, and Jordan can't quite match her, unable to draw out any real inner turmoil in a character who is respectable to a fault.

The chemistry between Jordan and Adams never gels (Charles appears slightly annoyed by Dana throughout), and there are a plethora of superfluous scenes that simply die on camera.

A Journal For Jordan is probably better suited to the page than the screen.

Visually, the style is basic. Under the surface the movie has complexity enough to handle a story whose timeline - a zigzag of points between 1998 and 2018 - is just one potential tangle.

Uninspired and ultimately forgettable.

Director Denzel Washington and his stars do their best with this bland, shallow and awkwardly structured film.

There’s something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s a little too long and the story doesn’t feel particularly balanced. But there’s something else – something that doesn’t quite give the movie the gut-punch it needs.

Chante Adams' excellent performance would be the reason to even consider seeing this.

Its a bit of a shock, considering Washingtons track record of directing strong, dynamic stories (Antwone Fisher, The Great Debaters and, most importantly, Fences), that he would make a movie this bland and lifeless.

A Journal for Jordan boasts a lot of talent behind and in front of the camera, but it never catches fire dramatically.