Denzel Washington’s $195 Million Hit Broke His Best Rotten Tomatoes Streak 31 Years Ago

Denzel Washington broke the best Rotten Tomatoes streak of his career 31 years ago with a $195 million legal thriller. After his Oscar-winning role in Glory, Denzel was propelled to stardom during the 1990s. This decade was responsible for giving the actor some of the most iconic roles of his career, many of which came in critically acclaimed and financially successful projects. This included the first of many Denzel Washington and Spike Lee movies, as well as working with Tony Scott for the first time on Crimson Tide.

Although Denzel Washington’s overall success in the 1990s is unquestionable, it was not a perfect decade for him. Several movies expected to be well-received became critical misfires or underperformed at the box office. The success of Denzel Washington’s movies still outweighed the rare missteps, as he only had six movies released in the decade that were met with a majority of negative reviews. However, each of these films meant breaking any successful streak he had begun. That included snapping the best Rotten Tomatoes streak of Denzel’s career.

The Pelican Brief Snapped Denzel Washington’s Best Rotten Tomatoes Run In 1993

Denzel’s Previous 5 Movies Got Great Reviews

Although Rotten Tomatoes was not even created at the time, The Pelican Brief is responsible for breaking the best stretch of Denzel Washington’s career. The 1993 legal thriller starring him and Julia Roberts came out in December with the expectation that it would be an awards contender and one of the year’s best-reviewed films. Instead, The Pelican Brief has a 55% Critic Score on Rotten Tomatoes due to the amount of negative reviews it received. This was an unexpected result as Denzel Washington was on a hot streak with his movies and how critics responded to them.

Prior to The Pelican Brief‘s release, Denzel had five consecutive “Fresh” movies on Rotten Tomatoes from 1991 to 1993. This streak started with Mississippi Masala and Ricochet in 1991 and continued with Malcolm X in 1992. He then had Much Ado About Nothing and Philadelphia released in 1993 before The Pelican Brief ended the year on a negative note. Denzel has never had more than five straight “Fresh” movies on Rotten Tomatoes. The movies included in this stretch are some of his best. To make matters even worse, The Pelican Brief prevented the streak from reaching eight movies by 1995.

The Pelican Brief Should Have Been Another Success For Denzel Washington

Denzel & Julia Roberts’ Film Was Expected To Be A Hit

The end result of The Pelican Brief was a mixed bag for Denzel Washington. The film was a financial success for him and Julia Roberts as it made over $195 million at the box office. It was also another John Grisham novel adaptation coming on the heels of The Firm‘s success earlier that year, and All The President’s Men and Sophie’s Choice director Alan J. Pakula was behind it. The Pelican Brief had all the ingredients to be a success for Denzel and everyone else involved.

The heightened expectations for The Pelican Brief based on who was involved might have led to a more negative response. Most critics agreed that Denzel and Julia made for a great pairing, but the work of Pakula when it came to adapting Grisham’s book was a common criticism. This included dragging out the runtime to nearly two and a half hours. In any case, The Pelican Brief‘s Rotten Tomatoes score reflects the poorer reception and became an unexpectedly criticized entry in Denzel Washington‘s filmography.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes