Is Denzel Washington Becoming Our New-And-Improved Robert Mitchum?
Is Denzel becoming our new-and-improved Robert Mitchum? I mean, I forgot the number of times I have watched him in one law-enforcement role or another, and usually as a cop or a police detective...
Or is he already typecast to such a degree that he ends up playing more and more of such roles? Here are just some of the films that easily come to my mind with Denzel Washington as a cop, detective, P.
I.
, or FBI guy: Inside Man (2006) [Detective Keith Frazier]; Out of Time (2003) [Matthias Lee Whitlock]; Training Day (2001) [Alonzo]; The Bone Collector (1999) [Lincoln Rhyme]; The Siege (1998)[FBI Agent Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard]; Fallen (1998) [Det.
John Hobbes ]; Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)[Easy Rawlins].
And I'm sure there are at least this many more that I can't recall right now...
Here are my favorite Denzel-the-cop parts and the reasons why: 1) Inside Man (2006) [Detective Keith Frazier] - here Denzel plays a police detective who is really out of his depth.
The joke is on him and we, as the audience, are in on the joke at Frazier's expense.
However, Frazier is also morally incorruptible.
And at the end, his integrity upholds the law and order against formidable money and influence and wins the day both for himself and for us.
To watch him in that vulnerable role of a not-too-smart cop with a shining spirit and iron ethics is a valuable cinematic experience.
He is simply brilliant! Denzel won the 2007 Black Reel Best Actor award for portraying Frazier.
I tend to believe that he also actually deserved an Oscar as well.
2) Training Day (2001) [Alonzo Harris] - dirty cops were never portrayed before this contaminated on a spiritual level.
As law abiding tax payers, Alonzo presents all of us with a burning law-enforcement dilemma that we are not equipped to resolve quickly and neatly.
Denzel shows his artistic bona-fides by drawing a portrait of a king of the urban jungle very convincingly.
You don't want to meet an undercover cop like Alonzo in your life, under any circumstances.
The role won Denzel his 2002 Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
3) Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) [Easy Rawlins] - this is probably the best (and the only?) Afro-Noir period who-done-it ever shot, portraying Denzel as the romantic lady killer who gets the job done.
This is Denzel at one of his sexiest gumshoe performances.
If you dig Raymond Chandler, you're gonna dig The "Blue Dress" and Denzel's jazzy performance in it as well.
Or is he already typecast to such a degree that he ends up playing more and more of such roles? Here are just some of the films that easily come to my mind with Denzel Washington as a cop, detective, P.
I.
, or FBI guy: Inside Man (2006) [Detective Keith Frazier]; Out of Time (2003) [Matthias Lee Whitlock]; Training Day (2001) [Alonzo]; The Bone Collector (1999) [Lincoln Rhyme]; The Siege (1998)[FBI Agent Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard]; Fallen (1998) [Det.
John Hobbes ]; Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)[Easy Rawlins].
And I'm sure there are at least this many more that I can't recall right now...
Here are my favorite Denzel-the-cop parts and the reasons why: 1) Inside Man (2006) [Detective Keith Frazier] - here Denzel plays a police detective who is really out of his depth.
The joke is on him and we, as the audience, are in on the joke at Frazier's expense.
However, Frazier is also morally incorruptible.
And at the end, his integrity upholds the law and order against formidable money and influence and wins the day both for himself and for us.
To watch him in that vulnerable role of a not-too-smart cop with a shining spirit and iron ethics is a valuable cinematic experience.
He is simply brilliant! Denzel won the 2007 Black Reel Best Actor award for portraying Frazier.
I tend to believe that he also actually deserved an Oscar as well.
2) Training Day (2001) [Alonzo Harris] - dirty cops were never portrayed before this contaminated on a spiritual level.
As law abiding tax payers, Alonzo presents all of us with a burning law-enforcement dilemma that we are not equipped to resolve quickly and neatly.
Denzel shows his artistic bona-fides by drawing a portrait of a king of the urban jungle very convincingly.
You don't want to meet an undercover cop like Alonzo in your life, under any circumstances.
The role won Denzel his 2002 Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
3) Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) [Easy Rawlins] - this is probably the best (and the only?) Afro-Noir period who-done-it ever shot, portraying Denzel as the romantic lady killer who gets the job done.
This is Denzel at one of his sexiest gumshoe performances.
If you dig Raymond Chandler, you're gonna dig The "Blue Dress" and Denzel's jazzy performance in it as well.
Source...