Denzel Washington’s career is mostly a model of consistency. Once he officially broke through with his Academy Award-nominated performance as South African activist Steve Biko in “Cry Freedom,” he deftly alternated between prestige roles and strictly commercial parts. There were missteps, but you can at least understand why he signed on to a buddy comedy like “Heart Condition;” he hadn’t won his Oscar for “Glory” just yet, and the opportunity to act opposite a tremendously talented performer like Bob Hoskins surely looked appealing in theory. The movie is dreadful, but neither Washington nor Hoskins phone it in.
And yet there was a sense among some in 1992 that Washington’s brilliantly multifaceted performance in Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” would put an end to such frivolities as “Heart Condition” and “Ricochet.” It’s intriguing to consider what might’ve happened had the Academy not determined that ’92 was the year to honor the repeatedly snubbed Al Pacino for “Hoo-hah”-ing all over the screen in “Scent of a Woman.” Would Washington have turned around and made so many pure commercial plays had he won the Best Actor he richly deserved?
Perhaps not. Because according to Washington’s career strategy, these films had a specific degree of merit.
Denzel Washington believes in the learn, earn and return plan
In a recent interview with The Times, Washington revealed that he made what some consider to be questionable decisions because he respects the hell out of a paycheck. Per the star, “Well, in life, you learn, earn and then you return — as in give back. So if your life is 90 years long, up until 30 you learn and from 30 to 60 you earn.”
By this metric, Washington’s time to “earn” officially ended in 2014, the year he officially launched his first successful franchise in “The Equalizer” (he’d tried and failed to get a franchise based on Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins novels rolling in 1995). This strategy is totally understandable, but does Washington have any regrets about the less-than-spectacular movies he’s made as a result of working in this manner? “After ‘Malcolm X’ I made some real clunkers. Look them up — I won’t say their names,” he said.
Look, nobody bought a ticket to “Virtuosity,” “Fallen” or “The Bone Collector” because they were expecting “Malcolm X Part II.” As someone who paid to see all three, I went because I just like watching Washington do his thing. As I wrote when I ranked Tony Scott’s movies, it’s immensely satisfying to watch Washington give an unabashed star turn. And this shouldn’t be controversial because that’s what stars are for! It’s all Cary Grant ever did, and he’s considered by many to be the platonic ideal of a Hollywood movie star.
Furthermore, “Virtuosity” and “Fallen” aren’t bad movies at all! The former is a half-thoughtful, half-moronic sci-fi action film that pits Washington opposite a pre-stardom Russell Crowe, while the latter is a nifty horror flick with a few nerve-jangling set pieces. “The Bone Collector,” however, is straight-up garbage.
In any event, Washington is still earning up a storm and has no plans to lay off the gas because, as he announced during the “Gladiator II” press tour, there are two more “Equalizer” movies on the way. Those are unlikely to win Oscars, but they will allow us to spend a couple of hours in Washington’s company, which is a bargain at any price.
