The 65th annual Academy Awards were held in March 1993. In the Best Actor category, 5 men were nominated, Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr, Clint Eastwood and Stephen Rea. Pacino won the award for his performance in A Scent of A Woman. I have watched all 5 of these performances and i review each performance. When i'm done reviewing all 5, i will rank them from 1 to 5. I will review Washington's performance first
Denzel Washington in Malcolm X-Washington's performance is simply outstanding. Brilliant in all aspects. Washington is charismatic throughout the film and carries the film with natural confidence. He delivers Malcolm's speeches with the dramatic eloquence and is always convincing. He nails all of Malcolm's speech patterns and uses an authoritative voice that is never forced. He is believable in the beginning of the film as the two-bit gangster and as the young man who makes a change and joins the Nation of Islam. The most powerful scene of Washington's performance(in my opinion) is the scene where Malcolm is talking about the "House Negro" on a TV show. Washington is absolutely stunning here. Just look at his facial expressions and his demeanor during sequence. Look at his hand gestures! Its great!
Washington is able to capture the anger and dismay of Malcolm during that scene in perfect fashion. The tone of voice Washington uses is excellent. He is very convincing in this scene. Its a powerful performance overall and the performance that propelled Washington to leading man status in Hollywood.
