20. Cry Freedom (1987)
Already radiating charisma, and sporting a credible South African accent, Denzel Washington earned the first of his 10 Oscar nominations for this portrayal of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. Alas, Richard Attenborough’s well-meaning film seems more preoccupied with the fate of the white journalist (Kevin Kline as Donald Woods) on whose book this was based.
19. Antwone Fisher (2002)
Washington’s directing debut is a heartfelt biopic adapted by Fisher from his own autobiography. Derek Luke plays a troubled US Navy seaman; Denzel plays the psychiatrist trying to get him to talk about the abuse he suffered as a child. It’s by the numbers, but generous and effective.
18. The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Antoine Fuqua’s gloriously woke remake of the 1960 western, itself a remake of Seven Samurai, is no classic, but it is a blast. Washington, in his only western, is a no-brainer for the Yul Brynner role, but, unlike Brynner, knows how not to be upstaged by his fancy co-stars. The film loses points for too much Chris Pratt, though.
17. Fences (2016)
Washington and Viola Davis both won Tonys for their performances in the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play about the travails of a garbage collector in 1950s Pittsburgh. They recreate their roles for Washington’s screen version, and the acting is impeccable (Davis won an Oscar), though the results are, inevitably, dialogue-heavy.
16. American Gangster (2007)
Washington, dapper as 1970s Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, shares top billing with Russell Crowe as his rumpled detective nemesis in Ridley Scott’s game stab at a Godfather-style epic. It doesn’t reach those heights, but there are some brilliant moments. Oh hello, Idris Elba!
15. The Equalizer (2014)
Down with vigilante violence and all, but it’s hard to resist Washington equalising bad guys in his three outings as ex-marine Robert McCall in Fuqua’s reimagining of the 1980s TV series. The first, in which he equalises the Russian mob, is the least preposterous and stages its finale in a Homebase store.
14. Unstoppable (2010)
In an action thriller inspired by real events, Washington plays a veteran engineer trying to stop a runaway locomotive from blowing up half of Pennsylvania. Tony Scott, teaming up with the star for a fifth and final time, serves up the hurtling hardware in white-knuckle style, with the blue-collar milieu providing welcome down-to-earth detail.
13. Gladiator II (2024)
“That, my friend, is politicsssssssss.” As a devious ex-slave dripping with bling, Washington has such a ball channelling Macbeth and Lady Kaede (from Akira Kurosawa’s Ran) into a scene-stealing masterclass, you only wish the film could have been his story rather than miscast Paul Mescal’s.
12. Man on Fire (2004)
The second of Washington’s collaborations with Tony Scott showcases one of his best performances, though the film itself, set in Mexico City, is an ugly encomium to vigilantism. The star plays Creasy, an alcoholic ex-CIA bodyguard who bonds with the cute kid (Dakota Fanning) he is protecting. So when she gets kidnapped (some protection!), he goes medieval on everyone’s ass.
11. Out of Time (2003)
Washington plays a local police chief in Florida whose attempts to help his mistress go horribly wrong, plunging him up to his neck in arson and murder. Meanwhile, the investigating cop (Eva Mendes) turns out to be the wife who is divorcing him. Perhaps it’s too upbeat to be truly noir, but our man, as always, gives it just the right amount of gravitas.
10. Philadelphia (1993)
Tom Hanks gets the showy Oscar-winning role as an HIV-positive attorney fired by his firm, but it’s Washington who gets the character arc, doing subtle work as the homophobic lawyer who takes him on as a client. The first big Hollywood film about Aids, deftly directed by Jonathan Demme, is a blockbuster public service announcement (you don’t catch it from shaking hands), but it works.
9. Fallen (1998)
As an upright Philadelphia cop, Washington grapples with an evil entity that hops from host to host (including a nice ginger cat) and makes people sing like Mick Jagger. Messages in 2,000-year-old Aramaic, contorted yellowish demon-o-vision and lines like “Apocalypse … does that mean anything to you?” add up to a bundle of demonic fun.
8. Glory (1989)
After six seasons on TV’s St Elsewhere and leading roles in several low-budget films, Washington first staked his claim to greatness with his Oscar-winning performance as Silas Trip, a runaway slave who enlists in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in Edward Zwick’s stirring American civil war epic. If you can watch the assault on Fort Wagner without blubbing, you’re not human.
7. Crimson Tide (1995)
Washington goes head to head against Gene Hackman in Tony Scott’s submarine thriller, with electrifying results. Denzel plays the voice of reason in the most serious standoff since the Cuban missile crisis, with Hackman so persuasive as the hawkish captain you can almost see his point as he prepares to trigger world war three.
6. Deja Vu (2006)
The hunt for a New Orleans ferry bomber veers into time-travelling, but Washington, playing an ATF agent, keeps the wacky shenanigans grounded. Thanks to Val Kilmer’s tech team, he ends up toggling between past and present while trying to save the life of a dead bombing victim. Confused? You will be, but there’s never a dull moment in Tony Scott’s sci-fi action-adventure.
5. The Hurricane (1999)
Norman Jewison, social justice specialist, directs this expertly crafted biopic of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the New Jersey boxer (and subject of a Bob Dylan song) who spent almost 20 years behind bars for murders he didn’t commit. And who better to play Carter than Denzel, super-fit in the black-and-white boxing scenes, ageing three decades and earning an Oscar nomination for another performance so effortless it makes you forget he’s acting.
4. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
Washington is no stranger to Shakespeare on stage, but – after an earlier supporting role in Much Ado About Nothing – one of the finest actors of his generation finally gets to play one of the great tragic villains on screen in an unexpectedly low-key performance in Joel Coen’s stark monochrome adaptation. Denzel is playing Othello on Broadway next year; let’s hope someone is planning a film version.
3. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
Washington convinces you he was born to play Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins in this “noir noir” directed and adapted from Walter Mosley’s novel by Carl Franklin. With its private eye scouring 1940s Los Angeles for a missing femme fatale, this has all the ingredients for a classic Chandleresque mystery, with its hero’s skin colour adding pep to the cliches. In a just world it would have spawned a franchise.
2. Training Day (2001)
In the first of five collaborations with Fuqua, Washington sinks his teeth into a juicy villainous role, and won an Oscar for it. Alonzo Harris is a swaggering streetwise cop showing a rookie (Ethan Hawke) the ropes as they cruise around Los Angeles, but he has a hidden agenda. The story hinges too much on coincidence, but Harris is such deliciously wicked company we’ll allow it.
1. Malcolm X (1992)
Spike Lee’s epic biopic and most exhilarating joint, entertaining as well as educational, traces the career of the human rights activist from flashily dressed hoodlum via a Pauline conversion in jail to inspirational spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Washington bestrides the film like a colossus, nailing every nuance of the role – only to be robbed of an Oscar by one of Al Pacino’s lesser performances.
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