Johnny Depp knows how Tim Burton’s scary mind works. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh share similar artistic goals. Leonardo DiCaprio’s replaced Robert De Niro as Martin Scorsese‘s go-to guy.
But what about Denzel Washington?
He’s known for his deeply personal character studies directed by Spike Lee. And their fourth collaboration, Inside Man, opens March 24. But Washington’s created a small circle of directors whom he places his trust in, including Tony Scott, who’s responsible for this fall’s Déjà Vu.
So how have these directors helped make Washington a star?
Jonathan Demme
Collaborations: Philadelphia ($77.4 million); The Manchurian Candidate ($65.9 million)
The Bottom Line: Tom Hanks grabbed all the glory for Philadelphia for apparently jeopardizing his career by playing a gay man stricken with AIDS. But Washington arguably risked more by giving a voice to a large segment of society’s unfounded fear and loathing of those suffering from AIDS. And Jonathan Demme had the good sense not to turn overnight Washington’s homophobic lawyer into a card-carrying member of ACT UP. In the election year of 2004, voters found the political machinations presented in Fahrenheit 911 far more compelling than the attempted presidential coup presented in the fuzzy Manchurian Candidate remake. When it came to stepping behind the cameras for Antwone Fisher, Washington took a cue from Demme by hiring a first-class crew and letting them do what they do best.
Carl Franklin
Collaborations: Out of Time ($41 million); Devil in a Blue Dress ($16.1 million)
The Bottom Line: Surely Washington expected Devil in a Blue Dress to land novice private detective Easy Rawlins more cases. After all, TriStar Pictures optioned two other books in the hardboiled murder mystery series penned by Walter Mosey. Only the studio fumbled trying to market a film noir refreshingly told from an African-American perspective, even one as smart and gripping as Carl Franklin’s One False Move. As for the race-against-the-clock thriller Out of Time, well, it never made anyone break into a cold sweat à la No Way Out.
Norman Jewison
Collaborations: The Hurricane ($50.6 million); A Soldier’s Story ($21.8 million)
The Bottom Line: Washington was making his rounds at St. Elsewhere when Norman Jewison cast him in 1984’s racially charged A Soldier’s Story and made him a movie star. Jewison was to direct Malcolm X, but stepped aside at Spike Lee’s urging. They eventually reunited for The Hurricane, an account of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter’s attempt to overturn his murder conviction. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the film’s factual accuracy cost the electrifying Washington another Oscar.
Spike Lee
Collaborations: Malcolm X ($48.1 million); Inside Man ($28.9 million estimated opening; He Got Game ($21.5 million); Mo’ Better Blues ($16.1 million); )
The Bottom Line: No other director’s demanded so much emotionally from Washington, and he’s responded by fearlessly and forcefully portraying flawed men in desperate need of redemption. Unfortunately, Lee let Washington down by making He Got Game and Mo’ Better Blues too obvious and overwrought. Malcolm X should have landed Washington his second Oscar, but the biography proved too divisive for those notoriously conservative Academy voters. Inside Man isn’t typical Lee–it’s a compelling though occasionally slow and overlong thriller about a bank robbery that turns into a hostage situation–but it represents his most commercial collaboration with Washington. So Inside Man will easily surpass Malcolm X as the controversial director’s highest-grossing film of his two-decade career. With Inside Man representing his best personal opening, Washington should walk away from this relatively bloodless cat-and-mouse game with a bigger hit than his similar but inferior John Q. ($71.7 million) thanks to the presence of a sly Jodie Foster and a steely Clive Owen.
Tony Scott
Collaborations: Crimson Tide ($91.3 million); Man on Fire ($77.9 million); Deja Vu (due Nov. 22)
The Bottom Line: Before Crimson Tide, Washington had failed to establish himself as a man of action. With Crimson Tide, Top Gun’s Tony Scott created his usual fireworks–this time inside the combustible confines of a U.S. nuclear sub–while Washington verbally and physically sparred with Gene Hackman. World War III was averted, finally ensuring Washington of his hero status. Man on Fire was a headache-inducing quest for revenge that audiences nevertheless willingly undertook. But the prospect of Scott sending Washington back in time to prevent a murder in Deja Vu doesn’t seem too thrilling, especially as Washington falls for the victim. Revenge proved Scott can’t handle anything too mushy.
Edward Zwick
Collaborations: Courage Under Fire ($59 million); The Siege ($40.9 million); Glory ($26.8 million)
The Bottom Line: When Washington marches off to war, he’s usually under the command of Edward Zwick. The Civil War epic Glory earned Washington an Oscar—his first—for Best Supporting Actor. The Rashômon-like Courage Under Fire curiously–but ineffectively–employed the first Gulf War as a backdrop for Washington to investigate a possible conspiracy. And The Siege’s depiction of an America fighting back terrorism–via martial law and the internment of Arabic men– seemed too implausible for audiences to accept. But after 9/11, and the implementation of The Patriot Act, The Siege now unfortunately seems like a case of art foreshadowing life.
