BeforeDenzel Washingtonbecame the Hollywood mainstay he is today withThe Equalizerfranchise, the Oscar-winningTraining Day, and plenty of other award-nominated roles, he made his first real mark on the big screen withA Soldier’s Storyin 1984. Directed byNorman Jewison, the film is a murder mysteryset against the backdrop of World War IIand featuring the star as a private under the command of the victim, Major Sergeant Vernon Waters (Adolph Caesar). It marked only Washington’s second theatrical film role and earned him some early recognition that would help pave the way to bigger spotlights and accolades aplenty. For fans wanting to dive into his early filmography, the title isnow coming to Paramount+ on July 1.
A Soldier’s Storywas written byCharles Fuller, who created it for the theater under the nameA Soldier’s Play. Washington, like many of his co-stars,was part of the original cast that first performed the Pulitzer Prize-winning story on stage. Taking placenear the end of WWII, it primarily follows a Black Army investigator called out to a military base in the heart of the Jim Crow South in Louisiana to investigate the mysterious death of the aforementioned Major Sergeant Waters. What he finds, however, is a regiment that’s still deeply divided in the early days of integration, with racism running rampant and segregation the norm. Trust is fleeting within the halls of the base, and he soon realizes that it’ll be hard to get straight answers from everybody, even with all signs pointing to something more than what everyone initially writes off as another Ku Klux Klan murder.
In addition to Washington in a supporting role as PFC Melvin Peterson and Caesar as Waters, the film also featured Oscar-nominatedRagtimestarHoward Rollinsleading the film as Captain Richard Davenport. The rest of the supporting cast, meanwhile, featured some notable names, includingArt Evans,David Alan Grier, Larry Riley, David Harris, Robert Townsend, and the legendary “Godmother of Soul” herself,Patti LaBelle. Of the group, Caesar would get the most recognition, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. It was one of three honors the film was up for, alongside Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, though it ultimately came away empty-handed. Critics and audiences were enthralled, though, giving the film a 90% and 82% score, respectively, onRotten Tomatoes.
Denzel Washington Will Be Back in Theaters This Year
In just two months, on August 22, Washington will be back in theaters briefly with his new joint from Apple and A24,Highest 2 Lowest. It marks a reunion for the Oscar-winner with directorSpike Leefor the first time since 2006’sInside Man, with the duo coming together to reimagineAkira Kurosawa’sHigh and Lowas a neo-noir crime thriller set in the modern day. Washington stars as a music mogul at the top of his game until a ransom plot thrusts him into a fight for his family and legacy while facing a life-or-death moral quandary. The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year as thestar’s highest-rated film ever by Rotten Tomatoeswith a 92% score, though that has since dipped slightly with more reviews. Critics havemostly offered high praise for the bold team-up, though, which unites Washington with a starry cast includingIlfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, ASAP Rocky, andIce Spice, among others.
In the meantime,A Soldier’s Storywill begin streaming on Paramount+ starting July 1. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the latest titles coming to streaming.
