When it comes to the all-time great actor/director duos, there are plenty of names that come to mind. Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson. Paul Thomas Anderson and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hell, Martin Scorsese has two of them with both Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Two names that easily belong in that pantheon are Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. Although the pair have only collaborated on five films across the last 35 years, they have managed to bring the best out of each other.
With the arrival of their fifth collaboration, the fantastic Highest 2 Lowest, I decided to look back and see how each of their joints stack up to one another. It’s important to state that, regardless of ranking, all five of these movies are certainly worth your time.
5. He Got Game
In 1998’s underappreciated He Got Game, Washington plays Jake Shuttlesworth, a convict who is temporarily let out of prison in order to convince his estranged son, basketball prodigy Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen), to play for the governor’s alma mater, Big State. It’s a love letter to Lee’s favourite sport, and a critique of all the messiness that comes with doing it professionally. The reason it’s placed at the bottom of this list is that it’s by far the messiest of their collabs. Some of the plot threads, for instance, Jake’s budding romance with his neighbour Dakota (Milla Jovovich), feel more clumsy than anything.
That being said, the film shines brightest when it focuses squarely on the complicated relationship between Jesus and Jake. Even the film’s controversial turn into “magical realism” at the end feels well-earned because of it. Washington’s great as usual, but Ray Allen holds his own for the most part, especially for being a first-time performance from a real-life athlete. The only thing more underappreciated than the film is Public Enemy’s soundtrack, especially the banger of a title track.
4. Inside Man
Inside Man, released in 2006, is still Lee’s highest-grossing movie ever, and it’s easy to see why: it’s a blast of a thriller. Taking place almost entirely in and around a Manhattan bank, the film sees Washington as hostage negotiator Keith Frazier in a tense standoff against bank robber Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) and his crew. The real joy is seeing those tense back-and-forths between Owen and Washington, trying to see who’s in control of the situation and who merely thinks they are.
Additionally, the supporting cast is overwhelmingly stacked even by Lee’s standards, which includes Jodie Foster, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Willem Dafoe and the late Christopher Plummer, the latter of whom has more to lose from the heist than just money. Also, it’s got one of my favourite plot reveals in recent memory.
3. Mo’ Better Blues
Released in 1990, Mo’ Better Blues was Spike Lee and Denzel Washington’s first-ever collaboration. Washington plays jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam, whose rising stardom threatens to be derailed by his floundering friendships and relationships. It’s a movie that’s as vibrant and stylish as the jazz music that surrounds it. It’s backed by a fantastic supporting cast that boasts Wesley Snipes, Bill Nunn and Giancarlo Esposito as Bleek’s bandmates, as well as Cynda Williams and Spike’s sister Zoie Lee as Bleek’s girlfriends. Lee himself has a great turn as Bleek’s gambling-addicted manager, Giant.
It’s a great movie whose sole error was being sadly overshadowed by the film that immediately preceded it: the monumental Do The Right Thing. Additional fun fact: This film is the only time that Washington and Samuel L. Jackson (another frequent Lee collaborator) have ever shared the screen together, and it’s sadly for just a few minutes.
2. Highest 2 Lowest
Funny how one of Spike and Denzel’s best collaborations is in tribute to another legendary actor/director duo, that of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. The modernized update on Kurosawa’s 1963 thriller High and Low, Washington transforms Mifune’s shoe salesman Kingo Gondo into record mogul David King, who gets caught in a 17.5 million dollar ransom plot just as he’s about to prevent a company buyout. Washington’s performance here is likely the most classically theatrical of the five, as he contends with his moral dilemma in a way that’s pretty Shakespearean in the first half. However, it’s also his most dynamic performance in years, especially in his later face-offs against the kidnapper played by A$AP Rocky.
Commenting on everything from the class divide, parasocial relationships, to even the complicated feelings behind preserving one’s legacy, it’s proof that even in their later years, both Lee and Washington are still as sharp as ever. However…
1. Malcolm X
1992’s Malcolm X is, without a doubt, the duo’s magnum opus. From the very moment Lee opens the film with the footage of Rodney King’s brutal beating by police—the film was released just six months after the LA Riots, mind you— you knew you were in for something very different. Chronicling the entire life of the late civil rights leader, it’s a three-hour epic that moves at the pace of a film half its length without losing an ounce of substance. Washington’s performance is nothing short of seismic, as he captures the very multifaceted aspects of Malcolm’s personality within each stage of his life.
It garnered his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor, one that many people still feel he should have won to this day (Sorry, Al Pacino). That’s not even discounting the many incredible supporting roles surrounding him, particularly Angela Bassett as Malcolm’s wife, Betty Shabazz. The film is Lee at his grandest, but also his most focused and the one that truly cemented both as two of the all-time greats. It’s an unquestionable masterpiece.
