There’s a whole lot you can say about Denzel Washington just based on his career thus far and one thing that kind of supersedes anything is that he’s a walking, talking legend when it comes to acting. He’s the kind of guy that a lot of people use as a reference when talking about other actors, he’s the person that some people model themselves after, and he’s the one that you would definitely think about when it come to many different parts in show business and who could perform them the best. When you really take the time to step back and look at his career you get the feeling that he’s more of the dramatic and serious type since a lot of his roles have had a bit of humor added to them but have almost always been deeply rooted in serious drama that has allowed him to become the icon that he is today. Apart from that however he’s managed to also be the kind of person that a lot of people have looked up to throughout much of his career.
Here are five of the best movies from his career.
5. Philadelphia
Philadelphia almost seems like a movie that was ahead of its time despite the fact that it came out in an era that was just perfect to receive it. The act of discrimination that’s perpetrated in this movie not just by the firm but by just about anyone and everyone else is hard to deny since a lot of us have seen it, felt it, or unfortunately done it at one point or another in life. But the idea of AIDS absolutely terrifies a lot of people since many folks didn’t understand it then and some don’t even fully understand it now. A simple handshake was thought to be a death sentence back then until people finally started learning more and figured out what it was all about.
4. Fences
There are those men in life that just can’t move on from the hardships they’ve faced and will carry them throughout the rest of their years no matter how much good they try to do. Troy was the kind of man that couldn’t let the past go and couldn’t move forward no matter how much he did and how much he tried to teach his son. Things just weren’t good enough and they weren’t worth risking as far as he saw it and in a big way that affected those around him and kept them from moving on for a time as well. Some folks get stuck in the past and can’t find their way to the future, which is sad, but true.
3. Glory
There are things worth fighting for in this world and freedom is one of them, especially the kind of freedom that a person is given over whether they’ll live to see another sunrise or die without ever having known how it feels to walk about without being persecuted. The camaraderie that emerged in this movie from such horrible conditions was something that gives rise to the thought that humanity isn’t so far gone that we have no more redeeming qualities, but at the same time is still in the midst of trying to set so many things straight that a lot is still going to be missed. And this is based on a story that’s a part of our past, while our future is still in question.
2. Flight
The last thing you want to hear about on a flight is that your pilot was doped up or intoxicated in any way while he was supposed to be paying attention to his job. But the amazing thing is that Whip did manage to land the plane in an emergency and save most of the people on it. Unfortunately taking responsibility wasn’t big on his list of priorities until it came to pass that one of his crew members would have been besmirched for the drinking incident, after which he finally stood up and took responsibility. Thankfully his life, after the arrest, started getting better after a while, proving that karma does exist in some way.
1. Malcolm X
It kind of depends on who you talk to when you speak of Malcolm X as to whether he was a good man or if he was someone that was seen as more of a manipulator than anything else. Of course people would argue with this since he was seen as a revolutionary, a reformed inmate that finally got his life back on track. But the truth of it is, whatever you want to say is irrelevant in the face of the truth, he was a man that stood up for his beliefs and from a historical standpoint that made him important.
He’s a legend now and will remain that way until the last bit of his memory is gone. P.S. this list was NOT easy to make given Washington’s got 58 credits. We know Training Day got him an Oscar. And let’s face it he was awesome in Cry Freedom as well as basically everything else he’s ever been in (Ricochet, A Soldier’s Story, Man on Fire, tons of others), but we feel he did his best work in these five films.
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