8 Epic Performances By Denzel Washington

6) He Got Game

Hailed as Spike Lee’s best movie since Malcolm X, it was no accident that it was also a reunion with Denzel Washington. I’m not entirely sure whether the premise—a convict father who makes a deal with the state governor to try to convince his son to play basketball at the governor’s preferred college—is preposterous or not. It probably is, but the literal details matter less than the emotional ones, the relationship between the father and son, and the gorgeous images and movement mixed with the positively overpowering score.

An underrated quality of actors, and I say this from a position of basically no authority whatsoever so take it as an observation from an utter non-expert, is the ability to hold up the performances of fellow actors they are sharing the screen with. He Got Game stars NBA star Ray Allen—needless to say, not a seasoned actor. His performance is decent, but it’s the scenes with Denzel as his dad where he gets in some really solid moments, and allows this tense and difficult relationship between father and son to be explored and felt. He may give up the spotlight more than usual in this film but it has to be considered some of his finest work.