Happy Birthday Denzel Washington: My 5 Favorite Films Starring Denzel Washington
Happy birthday GOAT.
Happy 69th birthday to one of the greatest actors to ever grace the big screen. Denzel Washington, an actor who delivers a near flawless performance in every role he plays celebrates his birthday today, and to celebrate, I’m going to rank my five favorite films starring Denzel.
Honorable Mention: Philadelphia (1993), The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
5. Remember The Titans (2000)
Growing up playing football, my friends and I loved watching Remember The Titans because it was one of, if not the only good movie about football. It’s fun, but does a great job telling a true story about breaking through racial boundaries. At the center of Remember The Titans is of course Denzel Washington in a role that doesn’t show off a ton of range, but is in the upper echelon of his filmography. His demeanor changing quickly between being a hard-ass and a gentleman was fun to see and is a common acting tactic throughout his entire career.
4. Malcolm X (1992)
The collaboration between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington is one that rarely ever misses. Malcolm X serves as a pivotal film of the 1990s decade that chronicles the life and career of one of the most influential activists ever. The reason that Malcolm X is such an influential project is because of two men — Spike Lee directing with his signature style and unique dialogue and Denzel Washington delivering, maybe the best performance of his career. It’s not my favorite Denzel starring film, but it’s probably the one that’s both his best and most monumental due to its extensive run time and historical accuracy.
3. American Gangster (2007)
I watched American Gangster on a flight home back to the states from France and maybe it was because I buried two glasses of free red wine, I found myself enthralled by both the performance from Denzel Washington in this film and the grand spectacle that is American Gangster. It’s an epic crime drama that orchestrates with a ton of moving pieces and stays coherent. With Washington as the lead, he seemingly mends two of his best performances together using the professionalism of Malcolm X to counterbalance the roughness of Alonzo Harris in Training Day for this role. He’s truly badass.
2. Inside Man (2006)
While many people probably prefer Malcolm X when speaking of Spike Lee-Denzel Washington collaborations, but I’m a bigger fan of Inside Man. It’s a high stakes heist thriller with great chemistry between Denzel Washington and a masked Clive Owen. I’m definitely a sucker for heist flicks, but the tough charm that Denzel radiates in this role makes it one of my favorite movies of the 2000s decade and my third favorite in Spike Lees filmography.
1. Training Day (2001)
My favorite movie with Denzel Washington in the lead is undoubtedly Training Day. And when you think about Training Day, it’s not a great film. It becomes great because of Denzel Washingtons performance as Alonzo Harris — it’s one of the five best performances of the 21st century alongside Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood and Mahershala Ali in Moonlight. The mental games that Harris plays on Ethan Hawkes character is utterly insane and entertaining at every twist and turn.
“Aww, you motherfuckers. Okay. Alright. I'm putting cases on all you bitches. Huh. You think you can do this shit... Jake. You think you can do this to me? You motherfuckers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get finished with you. SHU program, n***a. 23 hour lockdown. I'm the man up in this piece. You'll never see the light of... who the fuck do you think you're fucking with? I'm the police, I run shit around here. You just live here. Yeah, that's right, you better walk away. Go on and walk away... 'cause I'm gonna' burn this motherfucker down. King Kong ain't got shit on me. That's right, that's right. Shit, I don't, fuck. I'm winning anyway, I'm winning... I'm winning any motherfucking way. I can't lose. Yeah, you can shoot me, but you can't kill me.”
