Every Denzel Washington Movie Ranked Worst To Best

17. Philadelphia (1993)

Tom Hanks won an Oscar for Philadelphia, but it's Denzel Washington's turn as a homophobic lawyer defending a gay man that stays with you once the credits have rolled.

A courtroom drama that avoids stereotypes and digs into the prejudice that coloured America during the height if the AIDS crisis, Philadelphia is effortlessly tear-jerking in its portrayal of human connectivity and injustice.

Washington and Hanks work off each other without flaw, and Washington's complex portrayal of a man forced to confront himself remains his best performance never nominated for an Academy Award.