I just want to say that I really like Denzel. He's my favorite actor. But...

I am honestly curious...why do a good number of his movies always feel the same? Not every movie, because he was brilliant in Malcolm X. He Got Game was good and different, as was The Hurricane, and Mo' Better Blues among a few others. He's also done Philadelphia.

But often he plays cops and/or is in crime thrillers. This new movie Deja Vu looks like a movie he did a few years back: Out of Time. He's also done Fallen, Inside Man, The Siege.

Even Training Day and Man on Fire, two films I enjoyed, are in similar vein.

Do you think he just enjoys these roles? If so, that's fine. I'm just trying to figure it out. He's such a great actor and beloved by so many...it's sometimes puzzling how his work is maybe not a little more diversified than it is.

I'm sure being a black man in Hollywood, no matter how good you are, has a good amount to do with it in regards to being on the top of the list for receiving scripts. But I'm also just wondering what others think...and maybe if anyone has heard anything in the past, etc.

Huh? I don't think his movies are that similar. Unless I missed something I also don't see how you can say Out of Time is anything like Deja Vu.

I disagree with this post...I think Denzel Washington does a wide variety of movies. He hasn't done a sci-fi movie since Virtuousity, has he? He's pretty much hit all genres since then, except for maybe little kids movies.

Virtuosity was the same movie as Devil in a Blue Dress.

Well, that's always been the knock on Denzel that I've heard from people. The fact that he often takes roles of cops.

So you're saying Denzel movies give you a sense of deja vu?



Thank you, ladies and germs; I'll be here all this week!

It just seems similar to me. Both are roles of a cop where things are happening way beyond his realm of understanding and it's up to him to put the pieces together to solve the mystery.

A review for Deja Vu in the paper today even brought up the topic, so I figured I'd bring it up here.

There are actors out there who just play in the same movie over and over again, but I don't think Denzel is one of them. He might not have the varied resume of a Dustin Hoffman, but not everyone can convincingly play a 100-year-old Indian and a mentally handicapped person. However, I think there has been a lot of variety in the movies that Denzel has been in. If there is some overlap, it probably speaks to what a large catalogue of movies he has.

Because every good actor knows you don't go outside of your range if you want to be sucessful. Ask Harrison Ford, ask Sylvester Stallone, ask those dozen of actors/actresses who tried to do something different and were rejected by the public. No one wants to see Stallone or Ford in a comedy. No one wants to see Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell in a drama.

Denzel is SMART. That doesn't mean he won't take risks (see TRAINING DAY), it just means he knows which side of his bread the butter is on.

^^Good points.

yeah, Shannon nailed it...

i would say stranger than fiction is more a drama than a comedy to me and that was pretty good.

but i do agree that denzel does do alot of cop like movies and i enjoy him in that role because he is usually convincing in them, so i am not going to complain.

I don't think that matters. Denzel has a great career and plenty of money. He should take more risks. Why hasn't he played a retard yet? Or any type of character with a handicap? Why doesn't he do more period pieces other than Glory?

Denzel is an amazing actor but he does do a lot of the same. Very, very much the same.

I wouldn't say he makes the same movies. I think you are thinking of ashley Judd.

You're just a beautiful soul, aren't you?

[Michael Richards] Didn't you see Malcolm X?[/Michael Richards]

most people in hollywood do most of their projects just for a paycheck and hope to get a few projects just for the artistic aspect

I don't know about that at all...I thought Carrey was good in The Majestic and brilliant in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Ditto, I've enjoyed Carrey's dramatic movies more than his comedies.

Obviously you didn't see The Bone Collector.... (c;

Yeah, I like Jim Carrey's dramatic roles also.

If you want to see Denzel Washington in a different role, check out Much Ado About Nothing (Kate Beckinsale's debut film).

Add Truman Show to the list and I agree. I enjoy them much more than the comedies.

As for Denzel it isn't so much playing the same movies, he plays very similar characters. Somehow in 98% of his films he plays a black guy that is somehow being oppressed by a white man and the movie is about him overcoming that obsticle.

Malcom X, Hurricane, Remember the Titans, Crimson Tide, etc.

That is one reason why I personally have never understood his appeal. S.O.S. every movie he is in.

Denzel Washington is not near as worse than Dennis Franz being typecast playing a cop.

Denzel needs to play a White man oppressed by the Blacks.

Can't say I've ever thought that about Denzel.