Every Denzel Washington movie, ranked from worst to best by griersonleitch
Photo: Maya Robinson/Vulture Of all A-list stars, Denzel Washington’s career may be the most enviable. Although he has a well-established onscreen persona, it’s mutable enough to allow him to move from R-rated action films to serious dramas to passion projects with frequent collaborators . Tied to no franchise — seriously, until The Equalizer 2, he’d never made a sequel — he puts asses in seats, but not in such huge amounts that there’s any worry of Denzel fatigue setting in. .
45. Carbon Copy In Washington’s debut film, he plays the long-lost son of George Segal, a lawyer so concerned about appearances that he hides that he’s Jewish from his anti-Semitic boss; Segal has to decide whether he’ll accept his sudden son or side with the racist jerks at his law firm. Take a guess.
41. 2 Guns Sure, it’s a hoot to watch Washington kick back and let his bulletproof swagger do most of the heavy lifting, but 2 Guns isn’t nearly as cool as its star, who teams with Mark Wahlberg to play smartass undercover cops up against the cartel. Their odd-couple pairing has its pleasures, but this is the type of so-so movie Washington does while he’s waiting around for some better material.
37. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 A remake of the 1974 subway-hijack thriller is inferior in just about every way, particularly with its villain, played by a way-too-jacked-up John Travolta. Washington’s a little too, well, Denzel Washington to be believable as a nerdy subway dispatcher pushed into an impossible situation; you know he’s going to end up saving the day because, jeez, he’s Denzel Washington. You can’t nerd up Denzel just by giving him glasses.
33. Ricochet Washington’s earliest junk thriller, and a sort of fun one: He’s a former cop turned district attorney who has to team with childhood friend-turned-drug dealer Ice-T to stop a crazed serial killer . If anything, this movie is a showcase for Lithgow, who chews everything in sight; Washington’s hero is a little more down and dirty than he would be in later films
29. The Great Debaters Washington’s second film as director is less successful that his first but still occasionally stirring. Washington plays Melvin Tolson, the debate coach at Wiley College who puts together a team — including The Birth of a Nation filmmaker and star Nate Parker, in an early role — that eventually takes on Harvard. It’s essentially a sports movie, and it’s produced by Oprah, which adds to its This Movie Is Good For You vibe.
25. Out of Time If you didn’t know any better, this would look like just another junky early ‘00s Washington thriller; I mean, Dean Cain is in this movie. But give it another glance. Directed by Carl Franklin, Out of Time is a dark, funny, sexy offering about an alcoholic Florida cop who stumbles into a series of messes and has to maneuver himself out.
21. Antwone Fisher Washington made his directorial debut with this story of a young man who struggles with feelings of rage and fear and attempts to discover their source with his therapist . Inspired by the true story of a security guard on the Sony Pictures lot, this is Good Will Hunting but a lot better and more lived-in. It’s also a lot rawer at points, thanks largely to Luke’s powerful performance and Washington’s unflinching direction. This is a much stronger film than you remember.
17. Roman J. Israel, Esq. Washington earned his ninth Oscar nomination — and sixth Best Actor nod — for his peculiar, utterly fascinating portrait of the title character, an aggressively principled defense attorney who faces an ethical crisis of his own making. Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a profoundly odd character drama — Nightcrawler writer-director Dan Gilroy tries to graft a thriller subplot onto the story near the end — and it’s driven by Roman’s idealistic, combative attitude.
13. The Hurricane Among his most impressive achievements is the way Washington can take potentially awards-bait roles and transcend them. His performance as Rubin Carter, the boxer jailed for murders he didn’t commit, couldn’t be more suited to courting Oscar voters — and indeed, he received a Best Actor nod — but he’s consistently convincing as a man who had his life taken away from him.
9. Flight When Flight hit theaters, Washington had mostly put aside challenging roles for punch-the-clock thrillers. But this Robert Zemeckis drama reminded viewers that Washington could still deliver layered performances. He’s exceptional as a hero-pilot who’s trying to stay one step ahead of the addiction problems that threaten to destroy him.
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