{"id":80527,"date":"2025-08-13T21:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/80527\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T21:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:07:10","slug":"looking-back-on-the-spike-lee-and-denzel-washington-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/80527\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back on the Spike Lee and Denzel Washington collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get Starting Point<\/p>\n

A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n

Scott and Lee cross paths in Washington\u2019s oeuvre within the subgenre of the New York City heist film. Scott turned the greatest NYC heist movie ever made, 1974\u2019s \u201cThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three\u201d into a nearly unwatchable disaster of a remake. In \u201cInside Man,\u201d Lee dropped Denzel into a role inspired by Walter Matthau\u2019s character from the original \u201cPelham\u201d \u2014 right down to the hat and the hostage negotiations. <\/p>\n

In honor of \u201cHighest 2 Lowest,\u201d the reunion of \u201cSpike and D\u201d (as Lee calls the duo) 19 years after 2006\u2019s \u201cInside Man,\u201d let\u2019s look at the four other films they made together. I\u2019ll provide the star rating I gave each film when it was released.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019 Better Blues (1990)<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s follow-up to \u201cDo the Right Thing\u201d was always going to draw unfair comparisons to that film. It\u2019s a completely different movie in tone and subject. It\u2019s also nowhere near as good. <\/p>\n

The first pairing of Lee and Washington casts the actor as trumpet player Bleek Gilliam. Bleek is the leader of a jazz band whose members include \u201cDTRT\u201d holdovers Giancarlo Esposito on piano and Bill Nunn on bass. On saxophone is the star of Lee\u2019s next movie, Wesley Snipes. Snipes plays Bleek\u2019s romantic rival, Shadow Henderson. <\/p>\n

I share Shadow\u2019s last name, but I play Bleek\u2019s instrument. So of course, I stared at Denzel\u2019s fingers every time he picked up that horn. Terence Blanchard plays the trumpet on the delightful titular theme song, written by the film\u2019s composer and Spike\u2019s father, the late Bill Lee<\/a>. Bleek was also Bill Lee\u2019s nickname back in the days when he played bass for folks like Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin.<\/p>\n

This film\u2019s Bleek and Shadow are romantically involved with Clarke Bentacourt (Cynda Williams), who wants to sing in the band. But Bleek won\u2019t let her. When she does sing, however, Williams\u2019s rendition of W.C. Handy\u2019s \u201cHarlem Blues\u201d is incredible. Lee pays a sort of homage to this scene in the last few minutes of \u201cHighest 2 Lowest.\u201d <\/p>\n

Additionally, Bleek is doing the Mo\u2019 Better with Indigo Downes (Lee\u2019s sister, Joie). The scene where the two women show up at the same venue while wearing red dresses is an example of cinematographer Ernest Dickerson\u2019s masterful command of color in this film. <\/p>\n

This is a movie seen through a jazzman\u2019s eyes, with images alternating between searing reds and ice-cold blues. The trumpet in the opening credits gleams with a golden hue King Midas would envy. But the screenplay is a hot mess, and Lee got in some hot water over the film\u2019s stereotypical depiction of its Jewish club owners.<\/p>\n

As flawed as \u201cMo\u2019 Better Blues\u201d often is, every image is a jaw-dropper, and Denzel is good, too. It remains Dickerson\u2019s masterpiece as a cinematographer. (\u2605\u2605\u2605)<\/p>\n

\"DenzelDenzel Washington as “Malcolm X.”Warner Bros<\/p>\n

Malcolm X (1992)<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s next collaboration with Washington is also a masterpiece. It\u2019s also still the only Hollywood epic made about a Black person \u2014 it\u2019s 202 minutes long. Lee battled Warner Bros. and budgetary issues to complete the film. As Malcolm, Washington would have easily earned the Academy Award, but Al Pacino was due for the \u201cWe owe you Oscar\u201d and won for \u201cScent of a Woman.\u201d <\/p>\n

Once again, Spike and D are joined by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, editor Barry Alexander Brown, and costume designer Ruth E. Carter<\/a> (also robbed of the Oscar here). Their work elevates the movie around Washington as he and Lee (who plays Shorty) swing dance through Roxbury, deal with prison, and emerge as men on opposite sides of a religious philosophy. Malcolm X\u2019s devotion to Islam made him a controversial figure, and the film doesn\u2019t shy away from those details.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalcolm X\u201d also benefits from fine work by Angela Bassett as Malcolm\u2019s wife, Betty, and from Lee\u2019s four-time collaborator, Delroy Lindo as West Indian Archie. But it\u2019s Washington\u2019s show from frame one. Whether giving speeches or marching slowly to his death (that scene has Lee\u2019s most powerful use of his trademark \u201cpeople mover\u201d shot), Washington gives one of the greatest movie performances ever. (\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605)<\/p>\n

\"DenzelDenzel Washington (left) stars as Jake Shuttlesworth and Ray Allen is his estranged son Jesus in ‘He Got Game,’ directed by Spike Lee.David Lee\/Touchstone Picture<\/p>\n

\u201cHe Got Game\u201d (1998)<\/p>\n

Considering his near-Biblical love of the Knicks, it was inevitable that Lee would make a B-ball parable. This one even has a high school genius savior on the court named Jesus! He\u2019s played by former Boston Celtic Ray Allen.<\/p>\n

Allen holds his own against the scene-stealing Washington, who plays his incarcerated father, Jake Shuttlesworth. But this movie is absolutely ridiculous. The plot involves warden Ned Beatty allowing Jake a week-long furlough from jail so he can convince his son to sign up with the governor\u2019s alma mater. Jesus wants to turn pro instead, which sets up the film\u2019s conflict. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe Got Game\u201d shows how sinister billion-dollar sports organizations can be in their seduction of poor Black kids with athletic prowess. Unfortunately, the film is undermined by its sexist treatment of women. At least Washington shows some of the menace he would bring to his Oscar-winning role in \u201cTraining Day.\u201d And that Afro suits him well. Plus, any movie whose title song is a duet between Public Enemy and Stephen Stills that samples Stills\u2019s \u201cFor What It\u2019s Worth\u201d can\u2019t be all bad. And the ending is an infuriating head-scratcher, yet somehow it works. (\u2605\u2605\u2605, but just barely)<\/p>\n

\"DetectiveDetective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and bank robber Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) face off in “Inside Man.” AP Photo\/Universal Pictures\/David Lee<\/p>\n

\u201cInside Man\u201d (2006)<\/p>\n

While paying homage to the greatest New York City heist movies, Lee and Washington create a modern day classic of the subgenre. \u201cDog Day Afternoon\u201d is not only name-checked, it\u2019s also the film\u2019s main influence. A never-better Clive Owen plans the perfect bank robbery, and it\u2019s up to Detective Denzel to solve the case. The good detective is assisted by Chiwetel Ejiofor and a not-always cooperative NYPD. Willem Dafoe, Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer (reuniting with Washington after \u201cMalcolm X\u201d) round out the excellent cast.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t dare spoil how \u201cInside Man\u201d turns out. But, if you want to know more about the making of the movie\u2014and trust me, you do \u2014 you should attend my Aug 20 seminar<\/a> at the Coolidge! Spike, Denzel, and I will see you there. (\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2)<\/p>\n

Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Scott…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88],"class_list":["post-80527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}