Denzel Washington Filmography

The Matarese Circle

Actors: Denzel Washington

Synopsis: Two spies on either side of their respective warring nations team up to take down an international criminal group called the Matarese in this MGM adaptation of Robert Ludlum's novel. Denzel Washington stars in the Relativity Media co-production, written by 3:10 to Yuma's Michael Brandt and Derek Read More

The Great Debaters

Crew: Director

Actors: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker

Synopsis: Drawing inspiration from the true story of a temperamental debate coach who molded the students of a small East Texas college into a formidable team that gave even Harvard's elite squad a run for their money, Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters features the director himself as the ambitious Read More

American Gangster

Actors: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin

Synopsis: Director Ridley Scott spins this yarn concerning a Harlem drug kingpin (Denzel Washington) who smuggles heroin into the country by hiding it in the bodies of U.S. soldiers killed during battle in Vietnam. There was a time when no one noticed reserved driver Frank Lucas (Washington), but when the Read More

Déjà Vu

Actors: Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Val Kilmer, James Caviezel, Adam Goldberg

Synopsis: Adrenaline-loving director Tony Scott teams with iconic action producer Jerry Bruckheimer for this high-flung sci-fi action thriller concerning a New Orleans-based maverick ATF agent named Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) who is brought in on a top-secret government program to catch the terrorist Read More

Inside Man

Actors: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Synopsis: The volatile showdown between a determined cop and a perfectionist bank robber is sent spiraling toward disaster when a scheming power broker steps in to take control of the situation in this hair-raising heist flick directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster Read More

The Manchurian Candidate

Actors: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Jon Voight

Synopsis: Jonathan Demme directed this updated remake of John Frankenheimer's 1962 cult favorite The Manchurian Candidate, a pioneering examination of political conspiracy and psychological reconditioning. Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington) and Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) are two soldiers Read More

Man on Fire

Actors: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Radha Mitchell

Synopsis: A man whose ideals have been shattered for the last time is out for violent justice in this thriller. Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a former United State intelligence agent-turned-mercenary who has seen too much of the violence and corruption in the world and has become jaded and withdrawn. Creasy Read More

Out of Time

Actors: Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley

Synopsis: Director Carl Franklin and actor Denzel Washington team up again (following 1995's Devil in a Blue Dress) for the crime thriller Out of Time. Washington stars as Matt Lee Whitlock, the well-respected chief of police in a quiet Florida community. While in the process of getting a divorce from Read More

Antwone Fisher

Crew: Director, Producer

Actors: Derek Luke, Joy Bryant, Denzel Washington, Salli Richardson, Earl Billings

Synopsis: The directorial debut of Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, Antwone Fisher is an autobiographical drama written by the real-life Antwone Fisher. Played by newcomer Derek Luke, Antwone is a volatile young sailor in the Navy, getting into trouble for his constant fighting. When he gets Read More

John Q.

Actors: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Kimberly Elise, Daniel E. Smith, Anne Heche

Synopsis: A national health care crisis in the United States yields this tense drama from screenwriter James Kearns and director Nick Cassavetes, who experienced a real-life dilemma with his daughter's congenital heart disease that mirrors the one in this film. Denzel Washington stars as John Q. Archibald Read More

Training Day

Actors: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn

Synopsis: The Fast and the Furious (2001) screenwriter David Ayer follows up that fast-paced action hit with this gritty cop drama from director Antoine Fuqua. Ethan Hawke stars as Jake Hoyt, a fresh-faced Los Angeles Police Department rookie anxious to join the elite narcotics squad headed up by 13-year Read More

Half Past Autumn: The Life and Art of Gordon Parks

Crew: Producer

Synopsis: In this video, viewers consider the work and life of Gordon Parks. Perhaps best known as a photojournalist, Parks was also a novelist, poet, musician, and filmmaker. This video offers commentary on every facet of this man's remarkable career, concentrating on the motivation and techniques he used Read More

Remember the Titans

Actors: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Donald Faison, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst

Synopsis: A high school football coach finds himself fighting for stakes much higher than the State Championship in this drama based on actual events. In 1971, a court order forces three high schools in Alexandria, Virginia (two white, one African-American), to integrate their student bodies and faculties Read More

The Hurricane

Actors: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber, John Hannah

Synopsis: In 1966, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a top-ranked middleweight boxer whom many fight fans expected to become world champion. When three people were shot to death in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey, Carter and his friend John Artis, driving home from another club in Paterson, were stopped and Read More

The Bone Collector

Actors: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Mike McGlone

Synopsis: Filmed on location in Montreal and New York, The Bone Collector is a suspense thriller that combines Rear Window and Seven. Two cops on the trail of a brutal serial killer must see as one, act as one, and think as one before the next victim falls. Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) is an Read More

Straight from the Streets

Synopsis: Straight from the Streets chronicles some of the milestones that faced the African-American community during the early '90s, beginning with the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and concluding with the Million Man March of 1995; however, the focus of the film is not so much on the events themselves, but Read More

Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light

Synopsis: Sydney Poitier's talent and sheer magnetism in such films as In the Heat of the Night and Raisin in the Sun broke color barriers during the height of segregation and permanently rearranged racial politics in America. This PBS documentary charts Poitier's life and career from his humble origins as Read More

The Siege

Actors: Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, Tony Shalhoub

Synopsis: Edward Zwick directed this action thriller about Islamic militants unleashing terrorism in New York City. As FBI Terrorism Task Force-chief Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) investigates, a false-alarm bomb threat is followed by a legit bomb, with many killed when a Brooklyn bus explodes. Agents Read More

Fallen

Actors: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, James Gandolfini

Synopsis: Directed by Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear), Fallen is a blend of the police drama and supernatural thriller genres. Homicide detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) narrates, taking the audience back to "the time I almost died." This sets a flashback in motion, beginning at the prison cell of Read More

He Got Game

Actors: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson, Hill Harper

Synopsis: Denzel Washington and writer-director Spike Lee team for the third time with this contemporary basketball drama focusing on a promising athlete, the son of a convict-father. Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington) has been in prison for six years when tough prison-warden Wyatt (Ned Beatty) tells Read More

Speak of Me As I Am: The Story of Paul Robeson

Synopsis: His achievements as a scholar, artist, athlete, social activist, and humanitarian are well documented, and now the life of the man whose passion for social equality inspired a nation is explored in a documentary comprised of interviews, archival clips, and rare footage of the man himself. Official Read More

Happily Ever After Fairy Tales: Mother Goose

Synopsis: A unique animated rendition of classic nursery rhyme favorites with a rocking, upbeat musical score, Happily Ever After Fairy Tales for Every Child refreshes interest in the old rhymes for children as well as adults. In "Mother Goose," favorite titles like Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muppet are Read More

Courage Under Fire

Actors: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty, Matt Damon

Synopsis: A soldier discovers how elusive the truth can be in this first major film about America's role in the Gulf War. Lt. Col. Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) was the commander of a unit during Operation Desert Storm who mistakenly ordered the destruction of what he believed to be an enemy tank Read More

The Preacher's Wife

Actors: Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney Vance, Gregory Hines, Justin Pierce Edmund

Synopsis: An angel wonders if love can be Heaven on Earth in this family-themed romantic fantasy. Rev. Henry Biggs (Courtney B. Vance) is the pastor of a struggling Baptist church in a poor section of New York City. Biggs is devoted to serving his flock and his community, but things are not easy; membership Read More

NBA at 50

Synopsis: NBA at 50, Golden Anniversary Collector's Edition, celebrates the NBA's 50th anniversary. The video contains the TNT Network special, NBA at 50, in its entirety, a segment on the 50 greatest players in NBA history, and a music video salute to basketball's leading figures, performed by Vanessa Read More

Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream

Crew: Executive Producer

Synopsis: Mike Tollin directs this documentary about one of the best ball players who ever lived. Hank Aaron struggled against racism and hatred to eventually break Babe Ruth's home run record. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide Read More

Crimson Tide

Actors: Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini

Synopsis: Two leaders with different philosophies about battle and leadership wage war with each other in this tense military thriller. Capt. Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) is the commanding officer of a nuclear submarine, the U.S.S. Alabama. Ramsey is a distinguished veteran near the end of his career, and he Read More

Devil in a Blue Dress

Actors: Lisa Nicole Carson, Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin

Synopsis: Denzel Washington stars in this adaptation of the novel by African-American crime author Walter Mosley, the first of his stories to reach the screen. Ezekiel Rawlins (Washington), known to his friends as "Easy," has just lost his job at an aircraft plant in post-WW II Los Angeles, a time when Read More

Virtuosity

Actors: Denzel Washington, Kelly Lynch, Russell Crowe, Stephen Spinella, William Forsythe

Synopsis: In a futuristic, high-tech world run by huge corporations, Parker Barnes (Denzel Washington) is an L.A. policeman serving time for killing the psychotic who murdered his wife and child. Lindenmeyer (Stephen Spinella), a Dr. Frankenstein of the computer era, has created a monster, Sid 6.7 (Russell Crowe Read More

Much Ado About Nothing

Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Michael Keaton, Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson

Synopsis: Actor Kenneth Branagh made his directorial debut with a rousing screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. Four years later, he returns to the bard's work with this lively version of one of Shakespeare's best comedies. Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), the Prince of Aragon, returns Read More

The Pelican Brief

Actors: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, John Heard, Tony Goldwyn

Synopsis: Embroiled in an affair with Thomas Callahan (Sam Shephard), her alcoholic professor, precocious 24-year-old Tulane University law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes up an insightful theory about the recent murder of two Supreme Court justices, one of whom, Abraham Rosenberg (Hume Cronyn) Read More

Rabbit Ears: John Henry

Synopsis: Rabbit Ears productions lovingly embraces the classic story of the underdog in Rabbit Ears: John Henry. By using well-known actors and musicians as narrators, Rabbit Ears makes this age-old tale accessible and relevant. Denzel Washington narrates, but the real star is the music of guitarist B.B. King Read More

Philadelphia

Actors: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Jr., Mary Steenburgen, Antonio Banderas, Ron Vawter, Joanne Woodward

Synopsis: At the time of its release, Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia was the first big-budget Hollywood film to tackle the medical, political, and social issues of AIDS. Tom Hanks, in his first Academy Award-winning performance, plays Andrew Beckett, a talented lawyer at a stodgy Philadelphia law firm. The Read More

Malcolm X

Actors: Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Angela Bassett, Al Freeman, Jr., Delroy Lindo, Albert Hall

Synopsis: Writer-director Spike Lee's epic portrayal of the life and times of the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X begins with the cross-cut imagery of the police beating of black motorist Rodney King juxtaposed with an American flag burning into the shape of the letter X. When the film's narrative Read More

Mississippi Masala

Actors: Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton, Joe Seneca

Synopsis: Mississippi Masala is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Indian Jay (Roshan Seth), a resident of Uganda, is forced by the bigoted Amin regime to take his family and flee the country. He vows to hate and distrust all blacks--at least until he is able to Read More

Liberators

Synopsis: Even as they scored victory after victory for the United States, black soldiers still faced discrimination. Includes footage of the first troops to liberate Dachau and Buchenwald. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Ricochet

Actors: Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T, Kevin Pollak, Lindsay Wagner

Synopsis: Ricochet, a suspenseful, exciting police thriller that loses its way at the end, is the story of a good cop whose life is destroyed by an obsessed psychotic criminal whom he sent to prison years before. Nick (Denzel Washington) is a successful happily married police officer with a distinguished Read More

Rabbit Ears: Anansi

Synopsis: Based on a Jamaican folk tale, this story tells of Anansi, a spider who outwits a snake, but gets caught up in his own lies. Musical background is the reggae music of UB40. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Mo' Better Blues

Actors: Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Joie Lee, Cynda Williams

Synopsis: Spike Lee's 1990 directing effort is a jazz film, the story of a fictional trumpeter named Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington). He leads a quintet at the Beneath the Underground club with a flashy saxophonist named Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes). Though Shadow takes a few too many solos Read More

Heart Condition

Actors: Bob Hoskins, Denzel Washington, Chloe Webb, Roger E. Mosley, Ja'net DuBois

Synopsis: Jack Moony (Bob Hoskins) is a vice detective, but he is also an intense and crazed, racist lout. Jack has had a brief fling with a hooker named Crystal (Chloe Webb), but Crystal left him for Napoleon Stone (Denzel Washington), a suave, handsome, cosmopolitan lawyer, who becomes the object of Read More

Glory

Actors: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Cliff De Young, Andre Braugher

Synopsis: Glory is a celebration of a little-known act of mass courage during the Civil War. Simply put, the heroes involved have been ignored by history due to racism. Those heroes were the all-black members of the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, headed by Col. Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick Read More

License to Kill

Actors: James Farentino, Penny Fuller, Millie Perkins, Don Murray

Synopsis: License to Kill is a serious TV movie dealing with the subject of drunken driving. The film begins when a popular high school girl is killed in a head-on collision by inebriated-businessman Don Murray. Though he's had a drinking problem for some time, Murray has dismissed it as a byproduct of the Read More

For Queen and Country

Actors: Denzel Washington, Amanda Redman, George Baker, Bruce Payne

Synopsis: With a cruel, keen edge, this taut social drama slices deeply into Thatcher's England to expose a grim underbelly of racism, cynicism and despair. Reuben James is a black paratrooper who has spent the last nine years serving in the British army and who finally gets discharged to return to his home Read More

The Mighty Quinn

Actors: Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, James Fox, Mimi Rogers, M. Emmet Walsh

Synopsis: Xavier Quinn (Denzel Washington) is police chief of a tiny Caribbean island. Quinn's efforts to straddle the fence between the local blacks and the moneyed whites have lost him the respect of both groups. When a murder is committed, Quinn suspects that the killer is Maubee (Robert Townsend), a Read More

National Geographic: Baka - People of the Forest

Synopsis: Journey deep into the African rainforest and travel with the semi-nomadic people of Baka. Found in the southeastern part of Cameroon, these tribes of pygmies survive in the harsh environment by using their incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise learned from spending a lifetime undercover. Read More

Cry Freedom

Actors: Kevin Kline, Penelope Wilton, Denzel Washington, Kevin McNally

Synopsis: Richard Attenborough directed this dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko (Denzel Washington Read More

St. Elsewhere: Season 06

Actors: Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse

Power

Actors: Richard Gere, Julie Christie, Gene Hackman, Kate Capshaw, Denzel Washington

Synopsis: A star-studded cast portrays political movers and shakers in this drama about politics and the media. Richard Gere is Pete St. John, a gilt-edged "image" advisor to the likes of powerful and often crooked politicians -- including a South American candidate for the top office in his country and Read More

St. Elsewhere: Season 05

Actors: Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse

The George McKenna Story

Actors: Denzel Washington

Synopsis: This made-for-TV drama was based on the true story of George McKenna (played by Denzel Washington in one of his first leading roles), an educator in Los Angeles who faced the greatest challenge of his career when he was named Principal of George Washington Memorial High School. Located in a Read More

St. Elsewhere: Season 04

Actors: Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse

A Soldier's Story

Actors: David Alan Grier, Wings Hauser, Howard E. Rollins, Jr., Adolph Caesar, Dennis Lipscomb, Patti LaBelle, Art Evans, Denzel Washington

Synopsis: Inspired by the Herman Melville novel Billy Budd, writer Charles Fuller created the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play, which he then adapted into this film drama in 1984, for socially conscious, liberal director Norman Jewison. In the racially-divided 1940s, Fort Neal, Louisiana, is a Read More

St. Elsewhere: Season 03

Actors: Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse

St. Elsewhere: Season 02

Actors: Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse

St. Elsewhere: Season 01

Actors: Ed Flanders, William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., David Morse

Carbon Copy

Actors: George Segal, Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, Denzel Washington, Paul Winfield

Synopsis: George Segal plays rich and surly California executive Walter Whitney, who learns out-of-the-blue that he has a 17-year-old black son, in Michael Schultz's lightweight Carbon Copy. When his son Roger Porter (Denzel Washington) arrives, Walter tries to pass him off to his neighbors in the Read More

Flesh and Blood

Synopsis: Adapted from the novel by Pete Hamill, Flesh and Blood stars Tom Berenger as Bobby Fallon, a street punk who develops into a topnotch boxer while in prison. Upon his release, Bobby is taken under the wing of manager John Cassavetes. Outwardly tough and unmovable, Bobby is tortured with memories of Read More

The Wilma Rudolph Story

Synopsis: This biopic chronicles the courage of African-American athlete Wilma Rudolph, who overcame crippling polio to win three gold medals in track during the 1960 Olympics in Rome. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Wilma

Synopsis: This made-for-TV biographical film chronicles the early life of Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph (Cicely Tyson) as she struggles to overcome a childhood bout of polio and realize her Olympic ambitions. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More