denzel

been meaning to catch denzel’s new movie ‘deja vu’ in the theater, but it looks like i am going to see it on dvd instead. anyways, i noticed an alarming parallel in denzel’s current acting style and his gut—both are really large! so, curious to see how denzel’s acting and his gut turn out in his new movie. i mean as denzel’s gut has gotten larger in each successive film, the more over the top his acting has gotten, especially after he won the supporting oscar for ‘training day.’ i was really into denzel when he did ‘mo’ better blues’ and ‘mississippi masala’ and ‘crimson tide’ and ‘devil in a blue dress.’ all of those performances had his easy going charm. plus he has the coolest gait while walking around in a wife beater tee. (who would not want to have denzel’s stride?) but a little after that denzel stopped working out and his gut started to bulge (i first noticed it on ‘virtuosity’ that he started getting lazy and wore a loose dark sweater to hide his gut). and it seemed like he always had a yelling scene in all his films too just to drive the point home how large he had gotten. hopefully, denzel doesn’t turn into another al pacino, who relies mainly on rage to turn-in a performance. i mean in ‘inside man’ spike lee was a little more subtle (that you almost miss the yelling scene) by having denzel yell at a really thick glass door to clive owen. although you couldn’t hear him yelling, you could see the emotional fury of his over-the-top acting. for ‘inside man,’ it is too bad though that denzel didn’t get nominated for that role because he did a good job compared to some of the best actor nominees selected this week. maybe denzel’s gut undermined his nomination? most of the nominees are pretty skinny dudes except for that other fatty, forrest whitaker. (i guess only one fatty actor can get nominated a year.) denzel has addressed this oversight by not working himself back into shape but casting opposite himself in ‘deja vu’ the very bloated face of val kilmer (get a load of that close-up in the photo below). this totally draws our attention away from denzel’s gut. the proof is in the pudding for denzel as these photos atest.

julia roberts acknowledging that denzel’s oscar win and gut go hand-in-hand.
denzel’s gut stressing out the button on his tuxedo jacket and hogging halle berry’s space that she has to suck it up.
denzel’s new tactic while out in public—wear a really long and loose trench coat, taking no chances for his beer gut to be noticed. instead blame it on a really bad fashion stylist for clothes that don’t fit.
scale reference of denzel in relation to his ‘deja vu’ co-star.
val kilmer looking the largest of the large.
did val kilmer gain weight for his role in ‘deja vu’ to draw attention away from denzel’s gut?
more denzel trench coat subterfuge. “stare at my index finger and not my gut.”