Denzel Washington is one of the finest actors in cinema history. His career took off on the 1980s with a multitude of excellent supporting roles, before he developed into a prominent leading man across film, TV and theatre. He has collaborated frequently with the likes of Spike Lee and Tony Scott, and taken home an Academy Award for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor.
He has even begun a directorial career, with his third film (Fences) being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. We’ve used IMDb to compare the five Denzel Washington films considered to be the worst, with the five considered to be the best.
BEST: Man On Fire (7.7)
Man On Fire is the spiritual predecessor to Taken. It tells the story of John Creasy (played by Washington) as he takes revenge on a variety of people associated to the abduction of his nine-year-old daughter.
Despite the critical reviews being rather mixed at the time, the IMDb audience seems to agree that the film combines thriller-tinged excitement with enough action-film dramatics to become a great viewing experience.
WORST: The Mighty Quinn (6.0)
The Mighty Quinn is another interestingly placed film. On the one hand, IMDb has collectively agreed that it is the fifth-worst film Denzel Washington has ever had a major role in, while esteemed film critic Roger Ebert claimed that it was one of the best films of 1989.
It follows the story of Xavier Quinn (Washington) as he attempts to help his friend escape a murder charge.
BEST: Malcolm X (7.7)
Malcolm X was a figure of extreme controversy during his life, favoring violence over peace in the fight for civil rights. Retrospectively, it has become agreed upon by most that he was right to encourage the attainment of equality by any means necessary.
Denzel Washington’s portrayal of Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s film of the same name couldn’t have been more perfect, as he leaned into every dramatized moment from across his lifetime, from his time spent in prison all the way to his 1965 assassination.
WORST: For Queen & Country (5.6)
Relatively early on in his career, Washington landed the lead role in the 1988 crime drama, For Queen & Country. Despite being an American man, the film centers on a heavily British story about Reuben James’, an ex-paratrooper returning to normal life.
Despite its on-the-nose criticism of the evil Thatcherism destroying the UK in the 80s, the film was an unsuccessful box office failure.
BEST: Glory (7.8)
The 1989 film Glory saw Denzel Washington nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, thanks to his excellent portrayal of Private Silas Trip, a member of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.
In an otherwise real-life story, Washington had to overcome the challenge of playing a fictional character, and did it with impressive poise that allowed him to shine even when stood next to Morgan Freeman himself.
WORST: Heart Condition (5.6)
Denzel Washington isn’t an actor who typically associates himself with comedic roles. However, Heart Condition saw him team up with Bob Hoskins for a film often considered to be amongst his worst acting roles of all time.
The general premise sees Hoskins and Washington as police officers competing to lower drug crime, but the ‘comedy’ label just doesn’t work when a film isn’t funny.
BEST: American Gangster (7.8)
American Gangster might be Denzel Washington’s most famous and well-loved film, attaining a huge budget and the directorial skill of Ridley Scott to drive it forward.
It tells the biographical story of Frank Lucas: a gangster who used a plane returning from the Vietnam war to smuggle heroin into the USA. The film was award winning and even spawned a recent prequel TV show starring Forest Whitaker.
WORST: The Preacher’s Wife (5.6)
The Preacher’s Wife is an interesting one. It’s another of Washington’s rather poorly received comedic roles and saw him placed opposite Whitney Houston.
Reviews were mixed at the time, though retrospective views have been rather poor even though its music received an Oscar nomination.
BEST: Remember The Titans (7.8)
Attaining the same average IMDb rating as American Gangster, Remember The Titans is another of Washington’s most loved roles. Sports films are a strange breed and often exist in completely hit or miss territory, but luckily this one is a firm ‘hit’.
Like many of Washington’s biggest roles, he plays the real-life character of Herman Boone, a football coach attempting to integrate team at a Virginia high school. The end result is a touching and heart-breaking film which is sometimes known as the best football film ever made.
WORST: Virtuosity (5.6)
Despite being full of big-time stars (Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Louise Fletcher), the 1995 sci-fi action of Virtuosity was not to the taste of an of its viewers.
While Roger Ebert praised the idea behind it, basically all critics and audiences agreed that it lacked in anything overly engaging, which is reflected in its huge loss at the box office.