The Best and Worst of Denzel Washington

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "The Magnificent Seven" star Denzel Washington.

Films starring Denzel Washington that I've seen:
Cry Freedom
Philadelphia
Remember the Titans
Training Day
John Q
Man on Fire
Inside Man
Deja Vu
American Gangster
The Taking of Pelham 123
The Book of Eli
Unstoppable
Safe House
Flight
2 Guns
The Equalizer

Best Performance: Training Day (2001)
I firmly believe that Washington's Academy Award-winning performance as Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day is the greatest piece of acting in the history of cinema. Washington turned what could've been easily a by-the-numbers part into arguably the most menacing, deranged and straight-up despicable character to ever grace the silver screen. A lot of great actors have played corrupt cops over the years, but no one has ever come close to matching the suffocating intensity and sinister aura that Washington displayed as Harris.    

Worst Performance: N/A
Washington is someone that every actor in Hollywood should strive to be like. This is a man that shows up and gives 110% every time he steps on a film set, regardless of genre or the quality of the material he's working with. He might not be the single most acclaimed or respected figure in Hollywood right now, but no other actor in my lifetime is able to rival Washington's 30+ year track record of consistency in this industry.

Best Film: Training Day (2001)
In the 80's and 90's, police films were largely sanitized and portrayed cops as nothing but honest, moral human beings. Training Day flipped that long-standing genre trope around, offering an unflinching look at crime in the inner city and how police corruption plays a part in allowing illegal activity to thrive in poverty-stricken areas. The atmosphere is alarmingly realistic, the story is gripping and Washington's performance as the corrupt cop who takes a rookie narcotics officer (an excellent Ethan Hawke) around his beat to show him the ropes is beyond perfect. In my eyes, Training Day is a game-changing masterpiece that doesn't get nearly as much love as it deserves from the moviegoing public. 

Worst Film: The Equalizer (2014)
It's a testament to Washington's ability to pick quality roles that an above-average action film like The Equalizer is the worst project he's ever starred in. While the action sequences themselves are appropriately brutal and well-executed, the overly serious tone and bizarrely large focus on the generic, dull plot prevented this from being a top-notch B-grade vigilante film.    
 
Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of  "Deepwater Horizon" star John Malkovich.