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A Journal For Jordan is the film to watch this holiday season.
Ahead of the release of the Denzel Washington-directed movie, Black Information Network anchor, Shelley Wade, spoke with Washington, Micheal B. Jordan, who stars in the film, and Dana Canedy, who wrote the memoir, A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor, which the film is based upon.
"The stakes for [the film] are higher telling Dana's story," Washington shared when asked if he felt a great sense of responsibility bringing Canedy's memoir to life. "I've had the opportunity to play a lot of real people, but like I said, the stakes were just so much higher here. The dark places were so much darker here. The pain was so much sharper."
A Journal for Jordan is based on the true love story of Canedy and First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, who was deployed in Iraq when he wrote a journal about love and shared advice to his infant son.
The film follows the soldier's relationship as he falls in love, proposes to his girlfriend, prepares for the birth of their first child, and then dies in a tragic incident while on duty. In the wake of his passing, his wife uncovers a collection of letters that he wrote to his infant son. As a way of mourning, the soldier's wife and son sort through this collection of letters and honor his legacy.
With the film being inspired by her real-life, Canedy admitted that Washington's film did her story justice.
"I mean, it's beautiful, it's touching. It hit every note that I personally tried to hit in my book in terms of the balance between sharing with Americans and people around [the world] what it's like to get that knocked door, and you open it up, and soldiers are standing there, and they don't even have to tell you what happened. But also resilience that you can get through painful moments in time and get back to a place of joy. And resilience in happiness, and so I think it struck the core of telling both of those stories, " she said. "Pieces of our story in one film. I think it's magical."
The film's ability to capture happiness, love, grief, and resilience are why Jordan calls A Journal for Jordan "the perfect holiday film" to watch this season.
"I think the portrayal of a black love story the way this one is crafted, I think, is few and far between," he said. "I think the representation of seeing a couple fall in love and, and create a family and then go through hardship and tragedy but still have a beautiful silver lining at the end of it is truly important."
Jordan added, "I think we all need an escape right now. What's going on with the world, and get back into what really matters, which is family and love."
A Journal For Jordan hits theaters on Christmas day (December 25).
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