[LUconn]

Totally overrated. Probably the most in Hollywood. He's the same character in every movie. Don't get me wrong, he does that well and I enjoy him in his movies but come on. Inside Man, Deja Vu, Training Day, John Q, Man on Fire, etc. It's the same guy in different scenarios. He had to talk slightly different in Glory and Malcolm X but come on.

On a side note, those are all excellent movies except for John QPSA

[flamesfan30]

you could argue that Nicholas Cage does the same sort of thing...

[LUconn]

True. I hate Nicholas Cage. I don't even know how he's a star. But he's not so highly revered as the great Denzel.

[LUconn]

Also, Cage played John Travolta pretty amazingly in Face Off. He should have won an award for that.

[Hold My Own]

DW is by far my favorite actor. Yes it is the same role every time...but he still manages to suck you in and believe that character. I've never thought during Man on Fire that DW is the same guy from Training Day


DW is classic....I'll watch any movie he's in...he's a grade A BA

[flamesfan30]

maybe its just that both of them have been horribly typecast for their entire career?

Denzel was something special in remember the titans. simply amazing movie, with a truly inspiring performance from him.

[Hold My Own]

Cage doesnt even belong in the same thread as DW though. DW is truly one of the greats of all time when it comes to suspense movies. He's on the top 5 list.

[Covert Hawk]

Totally overrated. Probably the most in Hollywood. He's the same character in every movie. Don't get me wrong, he does that well and I enjoy him in his movies but come on. Inside Man, Deja Vu, Training Day, John Q, Man on Fire, etc. It's the same guy in different scenarios. He had to talk slightly different in Glory and Malcolm X but come on.

On a side note, those are all excellent movies except for John QPSA

He won an award for Training Day. Also, how about the Manchurian Candidate? That was a good movie where he wasn't in his normal role.

[Hold My Own]

agreed...he has been in a TON of movies so sure the roles are going to be alike


I'm only going to list 20 (out of 50) of his more well known movies

# The Great Debaters (2007)- Not typical at all
# American Gangster (2007) - Classic role, he was a BA but not like in other movies
# Deja Vu (2006) - Typical role
# Inside Man (2006) - Typical role...unreal movie
# The Manchurian Candidate (2004) - Not typical at all
# Man on Fire (2004) - Typical but one of the greatest movies of all time
# Out of Time (2003/I) -Typical
# Antwone Fisher (2002) Not typical
# John Q (2002) - Toss up
# Training Day (2001) -Typical but another GREAT movie
# Remember the Titans (2000) Not typical

# The Hurricane (1999) - Not
# The Bone Collector (1999) - Not
# The Siege (1998/I) -Not
# He Got Game (1998) -Not even close
# Crimson Tide (1995) Not
# Philadelphia (1993) Not
# The Pelican Brief (1993) Not


He's similar to Tom Cruise. He has about 3 role's he'll play. One where he's just a straight action hero. One where he's some what of a hero but more of a cool calm business style. Then there's the smart educated and inspiring roles

I think many actors would love to have the films and awards he has. Not to mention be the first name that comes to mind when you're casting a part for the lead role in one of those 3 types I said.

[RagingTireFire]

Denzel plays every role the exact same way every time. Go back and watch him in Virtuosity or Fallen -- some serious POS movies -- and compare that to his performance in Man on Fire. He's no different. I think he's much better at having personality than he is at actually acting but, hey, that's what sells tickets. As an actor, he's completely overrated. As a movie star, well, he is what he is.

[jcmanson]

I’ve always been a huge DW fan. Any movie of his I enjoy regardless of if he plays the same type roles or not. I enjoyed him the most in Remember the Titans which was not one of his typical roles.

[LUconn]

Some of you guys are missing the point. Sure some of his characters vary. A football coach is not the same thing as a dirty cop. They're very different. But he plays them exactly the same. He does great movies. And if I had only ever seen one of his movies, I'd think he deserves an award because his one style is very good. But it's just one. At least horrible Nick Cage did the OCD guy in Matchstick Men.

[Ed Dantes]

Some of you guys are missing the point. Sure some of his characters vary. A football coach is not the same thing as a dirty cop. They're very different. But he plays them exactly the same. He does great movies. And if I had only ever seen one of his movies, I'd think he deserves an award because his one style is very good. But it's just one. At least horrible Nick Cage did the OCD guy in Matchstick Men.

I think Denzel is the same guy (virtually) in every film, but you have to admit -- he does a really good job being that same guy.

With Nic Cage, he plays similar roles (only the hair changes) -- but when he's at his best, he can't touch DW.

[Kolzilla41]

I view John Travolta as the same kind of actor Nichols Cage is. Tom Cruise is also terrible IMO. He was the only english speaking person in Valkrie.

[Ed Dantes]

Some of you guys are missing the point. Sure some of his characters vary. A football coach is not the same thing as a dirty cop. They're very different. But he plays them exactly the same. He does great movies. And if I had only ever seen one of his movies, I'd think he deserves an award because his one style is very good. But it's just one. At least horrible Nick Cage did the OCD guy in Matchstick Men.

I think Denzel is the same guy (virtually) in every film, but you have to admit -- he does a really good job being that same guy.

With Nic Cage, he plays similar roles (only the hair changes) -- but when he's at his best, he can't touch DW.

Allow me to elaborate...

With most actors, as you watch the movie, you completely forget about who they are during the movie. Anthony Hopkins is the best, really -- no one watches 'Silence of the Lambs' and thinks, 'ohhhh, that's the sweet old man from 'Shadowlands!' Instead, you're saying 'that Hannibal Lecter is one freaky dude!"
With Denzel Washington... every role you say 'All right! It's Denzel Washington!" And that's not a bad thing.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Totally overrated. Probably the most in Hollywood. He's the same character in every movie.

Yeah... He played the same guy In Remember the Titans and John Q. What a Clown

[mrmacphisto]

I view John Travolta as the same kind of actor Nichols Cage is. Tom Cruise is also terrible IMO. He was the only english speaking person in Valkrie.

I'm pretty sure he was the only German-speaking person, technically. Unless I'm mis-remembering that first scene.

I don't care what anyone says about Denzel; he was fantastic in The Bone Collector. Probably the best neck-up-only performance I've seen since that Scottie character in Highway to Heaven, and that guy had a wheelchair to get around with. Handicap puts Denzel over Scottie.

[RagingTireFire]

I don't care what anyone says about Denzel; he was fantastic in The Bone Collector. Probably the best neck-up-only performance I've seen since that Scottie character in Highway to Heaven, and that guy had a wheelchair to get around with. Handicap puts Denzel over Scottie.

There should be a special Oscar category for "neck-up" performances.

[kel varson]

So who do you guys think the real actors and actresses are? I think we would all agree that most of them, like the argument about Denzel, appear to be the same character over and over.

On a side note, this is probably why more and more foreign actors are winning Oscars. If you are a famous/award winning actor and you are not "good looking" you've really accomplished something.

[RagingTireFire]

So who do you guys think the real actors and actresses are?

Gary Oldman has to top the list with Adrien Brody right up there. Daniel Craig was always good in his non-Bond stuff. Ben Foster is my favorite American actor but, as you just said, there aren't many of those anymore. Believe it or not, I think Stephen Root is really good but he's kind of gotten stuck in the oddball character lately.

[adam42381]

Edward Norton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and Kevin Spacey are among the best in my opinion.

[LUconn]

Edward Norton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and Kevin Spacey are among the best in my opinion.

add in benicio del toro and take out spacey and this is basically my list.

[adam42381]

Edward Norton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and Kevin Spacey are among the best in my opinion.

add in benicio del toro and take out spacey and this is basically my list.

I forgot Del Toro. He's in there too.

[RagingTireFire]

Edward Norton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and Kevin Spacey are among the best in my opinion.

I forgot about Depp and Hoffman. The rest of them, I think, used to be good actors but in recent years have ended up just cloning their most famous roles over and over again. Kind of what happened to Pacino after Scent Of A Woman.

[TIMSCAR20]

I too believe Denzel seems like the same guy in just about every movie but I really like his work. To me the old school actors like Gene Hackman and DiNero are still the best. I like Hoffman a lot too. He used to just be a character actor now he is a lead. Gene Hackman hasn't worked in about 5 years according to IMDB. I think I have seen just about everything he has been in including Royal Tennenbaums. I rented it again this weekend. A very quirky movie but I really like that movie. I like Luconn's list. I would add Sam Jackson and Bruce Willis although they both kinda play the same guys too.