What terrible movie was saved by a single actor’s performance?

In some circles, the phenomenon this question alludes to is colloquially known as the Denzel Washington syndrome.

Okay, perhaps it’s called that in just one circle. A small one. All right, there is no circle, only I call it that. But the point stands.

Washington has made a career out of elevating projects from the depths of mediocrity into something approaching watchability, and sometimes, even quality.

I have mentioned this somewhere before, but it bears repeating in this context – I think Denzel Washington is the most ‘watchable’ actor of all time.

His magnetism is unparalleled. Certain performers shine brighter than a supernova and compel your eyes to be fixated on them at all times – Washington being perhaps the finest exponent of this quality.

Every second he’s on-screen, he almost dares you to look away, safe in the knowledge that you simply can’t. Such is the depth of his charisma and talent.

And inevitably, those qualities often bail out movies that would have otherwise been sub-par or worse.

The genre or scope of the film is immaterial, Washington keeps elevating.

In Flight, Washington elevates a half-decent movie about an alcoholic pilot into a compelling portrait of a man teetering on the edge.

In The Equalizer and its sequel, Washington rises above cookie-cutter scripts that heed the Taken formula and keeps the ship afloat through the sheer strength of his presence.

It’s a phenomenon that one can find in the likes of John Q, Man on Fire, Safe House, 2 Guns, The Magnificent Seven and several other projects.

Perhaps the single greatest example is Training Day, a movie that saw Washington leverage his charisma for an Academy Award. Take him out of that movie and it is a hollow vessel.

Ultimately, the math on this is simple – If Denzel Washington is putting out a movie, you can safely bet that his performance is most likely going to be the finest component of that movie. He is just that good.

What that means is that Washington can ride the crest of Malcolm X’s powerful script and can also make mediocre fare like Roman J. Israel, Esq. seem compelling.

He can do both those things because of one inescapable truth – Denzel Washington is an utterly phenomenal performer. One of the best that I have ever seen.