Denzel Washington & Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns
Denzel Washington is back on the big screen this week as he stars in action/comedy 2 Guns.
The movie is a big screen adaptation of the graphic novel by Steven Grant and sees Washington team up with Mark Wahlberg and director Baltasar Kormákur.
During his acting career Washington has been joined by a whole host of A-list co-stars... we take a look at some of the big names that he has shared the screen with.
- Russell Crowe (Virtuosity & American Gangster)
Washington has paired with Russell Crowe twice during his career in Virtuosity & American Gangster.
Virtuosity was released back in 1995, and it took the twelve years before they worked together on American Gangster in 2007.
Much like Heat, American Gangster was one of those movies where the two main protagonists hardly ever meet.
They share some scenes together at the end of the film when their characters - Washington played drug lord Frank Lucas & Crowe the detective on his trail - come face to face.
These really were the most riveting as two acting heavyweights went head to head.
- Tom Hanks (Philadelphia)
2013 is a very special year... as the film Philadelphia celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
The movie saw Tom Hanks take on the role of Andrew Beckett, a man with AIDS who is fired from his job at a law firm because of his condition. Washington played lawyer Joe Miller, who helps Beckett bring his wrongful dismissal case again his former employer.
Directed by Jonathan Demme this was the first big Hollywood movie that really tackled the social, political and medical issues surrounding HIV/AIDS; it was still quite a taboo subject at the time.
While the courtroom side of it is intense and dramatic, it is the human side that packs the emotional punch.
Hanks is sensational in the lead role while Washington plays a man who goes on a learning curve with the audience.
- Angelina Jolie (The Bone Collector)
If you haven't seen The Bone Collector then you really should check it out as it is a great murder mystery.
Released in 1999, Washington was a well established star but Angelina Jolie was really still finding her feet as a film actress.
The movie follows a quadriplegic homicide detective (Washington) who, along with his young partner (Jolie) are on the hunt for a serial killer.
Ok, so the story is a little unbelievable but that doesn't mean that the film is not a great ride.
There is a great chemistry between Washington and Jolie; they rub each other up the wrong way but they do get the best out of one another.
- John Travolta (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3)
In 2009 Washington took on the crime/drama The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, a movie which saw him team up with John Travolta.
The movie was a big screen adaptation of the novel by John Godey and saw Washington reunite with director Tony Scott.
Washington took on the role of New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, who has to try and outfox armed hijackers who have are holding a train and everyone on it hostage.
This is a great cat and mouse story between two fine actors, there is little face to face time between Washington and Travolta throughout the film.
Despite that fact that they only really communicate by radio a relationship does develop between then that is fascinating to watch.
- Ryan Reynolds (Safe House)
Washington showed off his action credentials off again last year as he starred with Ryan Reynolds in Safe House; it was the first time that the pair had worked together.
Reynolds took on the role of a young CIA agent Matt Weston, who has the task of looking after fugitive Tobin Frost (Washington) in his safe house. But when the safe house is attacked the pair of them have to go on the run.
Reynolds and Washington give fantastic contrasting performances; Weston is inexperienced, idealistic and naive, while Frost is experienced, cynical and has a very good understanding of betrayal.
But in each other the pair find a self-doubt and a questioning if they are doing the right thing.
In the film you see the old departing his wisdom to the young and Washington and Reynolds play it just right.
- Mark Wahlberg (2 Guns)
Washington teams up with Mark Wahlberg for the first time this week as 2 Guns hits the big screen.
Wahlberg has already heaped praise on Washington calling him a giving and supportive co-star.
For the past 12 months, DEA agent Bobby Trench (Washington) and U.S. naval intelligence officer Marcus Stigman (Wahlberg) have been reluctantly attached at the hip.
Working undercover as members of a narcotics syndicate, each man distrusts his partner as much as the criminals they have both been tasked to take down.
When their attempt to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel and recover millions goes haywire, Trench and Stigman are suddenly disavowed by their superiors.
Now that everyone wants them in jail or in the ground, the only person they can count on is the other.
Unfortunately for their pursuers, when good guys spend years pretending to be bad, they pick up a few tricks along the way.
2 Guns is released 16th August.
Tagged in Denzel Washington