Siskoid Cinema presents... Fade In, the show that looks at famous actors and directors' first feature film, looking for that spark of future stardom. This episode, Denzel Washington's career fades in with Carbon Copy. Did one of the actors of his generation arrive fully formed in this odd George Segal comedy? Siskoid and Captain Entropy discuss!
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Credits:
Bonus clips: "Carbon Copy" by Michael Schultz, starring Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, Dick Martin, Denzel Washington, George Segal and Paul Winfield; and "Sweet Georgia Brown" by The Carroll Brothers.
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This was a great episode and I really enjoyed listening to this one. I did a quick count, and I’ve seen 43 Denzel films. Which seems crazy to me. But I think, like Siskoid had said, Denzel makes me more inclined to watch something. I doubt I would have sat through 2 Guns, Safehouse, or all three Equalizer films otherwise.
Denzel always felt like he was distancing himself from the “DENZEL!” hysteria that swept the nation when he was on St. Elsewhere. He was the TV heartthrob of the mid 80s, and it seemed that as his career progressed, he mostly avoided Romantic leads or even rom-coms, which many TV sexy guys transitioning to movies did.
Instead he did Cry Freedom, Glory, Mo Better Blues. And while he still maintained a level of sex appeal, he never played that part. And like you both mentioned, it led him to playing flawed characters instead of relying on his looks, charisma, and charm.
He did, and still does, flirt with being an action hero, but he never turned into a caricature. And while many of those early films weren’t great (looking at you Virtuosity!), he was always good in them.
As fsr as Carbon Copy, I watched it for the first time so I could enjoy the podcast, and I think you both nailed it. There is a better, smarter, funnier film in there somewhere about race, prejudice, class, privilege, and passing in a white society, but it never really digs in deep enough to make this any good.
Thanks again to the both of you for putting this together and I can’t wait for the next episode.
Wow, kind words, Chris — and keen observations. Thanks very much!