Troy Maxton, a former ball player, an ex-con and now a Pittsburgh garbage collector, is in equal parts lovable and loathsome. He does his job, provides for his family, and spends each evening drinking gin and railing about the unfairness of life while never accepting the slightest blame for where he’s ended up. He belittles the dreams of his sons, fearing that they will be more successful and at the same time that they will be just like him.

Director/star Denzel Washington spent six years bringing the late August Wilson’s 1983 Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play to the screen, and the result is a performance-driven masterpiece on a variety of levels. Though it’s set in 1953, it’s at the same time eternal and immediate, and transcends race.

The director resists the Hollywood bells and whistles, and doesn’t try to “open up” the play. It’s talky, as play adaptations will be, and there’s little actual action, but the material is so powerful and the dialogue so spellbinding that even the multiplex crowd will be hooked.

The actor’s visceral, vicious portrayal of Troy is lived-in and absolutely convincing (he was in the 2010 Broadway revival, as were most of the cast members here). It’s one of his best, right up there with Glory and Training Day.

But it’s Viola Davis who steals the spotlight (and took home an Oscar), notably in one scene where Troy rather self-righteously delivers to her some unwanted, devastating news. Absolutely not to be missed. (139 min)