Denzel Washington is Extremely Convincing

Rating: 8/10 (13 September 2009)

Whatever one thinks of the Nation of Islam or of Malcolm X, this is an outstanding film with superb acting by Denzel Washington as Malcolm and by Angela Bassett as Dr. Betty Shabazz, his wife. Malcolm X was a complicated personality -- an ex-con who became an effective religious proselytizer for the Nation of Islam, who eventually turned against its leader, Elijah Muhummad, and who dropped the anti-white rhetoric toward the end of his life, just prior to his murder, presumably by agents of the Nation of Islam. Washington captures Malcolm X's complexities and makes his transitional moments -- from jailbird to religious convert to eloquent spokesman to rebel to spokesman for a different vision of Islam -- seem very real indeed. Angela Bassett is a shining presence as Malcolm's wife, Betty Shabazz. The tense period leading up to Malcolm's assassination is rendered with great skill. The movie might have been considered too controversial for the Motion Picture Academy. Otherwise, it would surely have won Denzel Washington an Oscar.