Denzel Washington: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2. Malcolm X - Malcolm X

Of course, considering the amount of them he's played over the years, we should probably make mention of one of the historical figures Denzel Washington has played to a tee over the years. Amongst a pretty impressive bunch of real-life characters he's been asked to imitate, one obviously stands out from the crowd €“ his amazing, uncanny and realistic portrayal of Malcolm X, in Spike Lee's biopic of the same name. The biopic covers key events in the radical civil rights activist's life over the course of three hours, and (besides the fact it's an amazing, true story) it's the enigmatic central performance by Washington that really holds the attention over that marathon running time. Largely drawn from Alex Haley's 1965 book The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the film provides probably the most complete look at the man's life; and Denzel provides probably the most complete look at the man. Washington won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and just recently the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". That's enough dull facts, though. Malcolm X, decades after his assassination on February 21 1965, comes to life through Washington's performance. Never shying away from the leader's less sympathetic aspects, whilst also making him feel incredibly human when he could easily have been reduced to a symbol, an icon, Denzel is not intimidate by the legend; instead, he manages to capture every part of X, and it never feels like a mere caricature or imitation, either. Better him than us, to be honest.