Top 10 Denzel Washington Roles

This film I feel stands on the shoulders of giants. Lee was willing to risk it all to do a film of such great expanse. Of course, when you have a three hour film there's gonna be flaws, and, as always, Lee's idiosyncracies crop up, but it is Washington's immersion into the role of Malcolm X that drives this film. The man has won two Oscars for two different films, but I still believe that this is his best role to date. What I felt while watching this one, as compared to some other Lee films, is that this one was handled with extreme care, for he is representing the life of one of the most important African-Americans in history; that importance is carried over into every scene. And almost perfectly, he does so.

One of Denzel's best roles. He commands the screen so well.

Spike Lee has to be a genius to get someone like Ray Allen to act well. While the plot can have its faults, it the relationship between Denzel and Ray's characters that is fascinating to watch; Denzel does his usual thing, which is always impressive and Allen is surprisingly good, although you can tell he's forcing a bit.
It the caressing touch that Lee provides with basketball, which is why I really enjoy this film. Not being a fan of the sport, you can still be drawn into it, becuase that's just how good Lee is.

One cannot simply deny the power of Denzel, but otherwise, the film's okay. Denzel dominates, which makes it very good. It proves how good of an actor he is, when he alone rises above the rest of the material.

I finally got to see this and it was well worth the wait, especially after all the hype had died down. Washington and Crowe are both exceptional, both delivering Oscar-worthy stuff; it wasn't quite the two man game I was expecting (like The Departed), but no matter.

Washington was not the devilishly evil character he was in Training Day, but a regular man, a family man, with flashes of that evil. I don't know if it belongs in the realm of his great performances like Malcolm X, He Got Game, Glory and Training Day, but it's his best since that last Oscar. Crowe, on the other hand, has never really been a favorite of mine, but here, I felt differently. (When the spotlight's not on him, I like him more.) I came to believe in his character a lot more whole-heartedly than Washington's, which is why I feel the performance is underrated by critics and overshadowed by Washington's performance. For what each role was supposed to be, Crowe's was better.

What I like about Scott's direction for American Gangster is that, for the first time, there was no embellishment, no "I think I need another shot here;" it was simple straightforward, non-showy direction that lets the actors and the screenplay tell the story, yet you still get the full scope of the story and of Harlem. Because of this, he has one of his best directorials

The rest of the cast is exceptional, filling in the smaller characters with good character actors like Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and best of all Ruby Dee, who, really, just in that one scene towards the end, proves she is worthy of Oscar talk as well.

The critics seemed to slight this a bit as they were expecting something grander than what it was. It didn't blow you away immediately. It's one of those films where, when it's over, it gives you this kind of revelatory "Wow!" While I don't see it as the classic people are saying it is (although, in the future, that might be different), it's certainly one of the best and most ambitious films I've seen this year, along with Zodiac, and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.