
Denzel Washington is one of the most respected actors of our time. He’s best known for powerhouse dramas… and as Robert McCall in a certain action series that’s releasing a third and final installment at the end of this summer. “The Equalizer 3” opens September 1st. And while Washington very likely won’t be able to promote the movie at all because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, his name and the familiarity of the franchise should allow it to earn some big bucks at the box office.
The first two “Equalizer” movies made nearly identical amounts of money domestically — $101.5 million for the 2014 original and $102.1 million for the 2018 sequel. We’ll see what happens this time as Washington reunites with “Man on Fire” co-star Dakota Fanning.
But before we get to Labor Day weekend, I’d like to acknowledge my favorite Denzel Washington performances. He’s won two Oscars, for “Glory” and “Training Day”. But there are other performances that have put him back on the ballot that deserve recognition, plus a few more.
He was great as Joe Miller in “Philadelphia”. He excelled as Herman Boone in Disney’s football drama “Remember the Titans”. And he and Chris Pine made for a pretty good pairing in train thriller “Unstoppable”.
If “Lincoln” wasn’t released in theaters (and had gone to HBO like an original plan), then I think the 2012 Best Actor race would’ve been an intense showdown between Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” and Washington as William “Whip” Whittaker Sr. in “Flight”. Many awards shows showed a pivotal clip of Washington towards the end of the film, but he was really good in THE ENTIRE MOVIE.
Washington did have an intense face-off against Casey Affleck (Lee Chandler in “Manchester by the Sea”) four years later. Washington won the SAG Award for his powerhouse work as Troy Maxson in “Fences” but lost every other major prize.
In 2017, Washington played the title “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” in director Dan Gilroy’s follow-up to brilliant “Nightcrawler”. Washington’s performance is dynamite, amidst a really messy movie. I also enjoyed Washington’s quieter work as Joe “Deke” Deacon, alongside fellow Oscar winners Rami Malek and Jared Leto, in John Lee Hancock’s “The Little Things”. As for taking-on one of Shakespeare’s most iconic roles, I stand by my evaluation that Washington gets better as “The Tragedy of Macbeth” goes on.