The Best and Worst of David Oyelowo

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Don't Let Go” star David Oyelowo 

Films starring David Oyelowo that I've seen:
A Sound of Thunder
The Last King of Scotland
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Help
Red Tails
The Paperboy
Jack Reacher
The Butler
Interstellar
Selma
A Most Violent Year
The Cloverfield Paradox
Gringo

Best Performance: Selma (2014)
This isn't just the best performance of Oyelowo's career to-date, it's one of the best pieces of acting I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing on screen. Oyelowo taps into nuances of Martin Luther King (the doubt he expressed about the effectiveness of his message, the quiet shame he held over his extramarital affairs) that never carried over to his public persona while also powerfully capturing (his clear, commanding speech delivery style, the resilience and diligence he displayed when tackling issues) the attributes that made him the figurehead of the civil rights movement. Truly transcendent work from an actor who doesn't get nearly the level of respect he deserves in this industry.

Worst Performance: Jack Reacher (2012)
In the relatively entertaining albeit very flawed Gringo, Oyelowo proved that he had a gift for delivering manic comedy that hadn't been tapped into before. His success in Gringo makes his failure in Jack Reacher even more baffling and aggravating. If he (and the rest of his castmates for that matter) had bought into the absurdity of the plot instead of choosing to play it straight, Jack Reacher maybe could've been something other than a routinely cringeworthy action movie that took itself way too seriously.

Best Film: Selma (2014)
Portrayals of historical figures don't get much better than Selma. Through depicting King's famous march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery in protest of the lack of voting rights for black Americans, Ava DuVernay paints a vivid picture of what drove him to be a civil rights leader and how he was able to unify people behind his message without shying away from the flaws of the man that left behind such an iconic legacy.

Worst Film: A Sound of Thunder (2005)
A Sound of Thunder is the special kind of awful movie where the mere mention of the title conjures up a feeling of overwhelming disgust inside me. While the producers going bankrupt during the post-production process explains the porous special effects, there's no suitable excuse for the terrible acting and unintentionally hilarious plot that are primarily responsible for the vile stench emanating  from every frame of this largely unseen sci-fi thriller.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “It: Chapter 2” star Bill Hader.