Ricochet was an early starring role for Denzel Washington, but it was originally intended for Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movie franchise. Having already won an Oscar for his performance in Glory, Washington’s movie career in the 1990s saw him establish himself as a true movie star and one of the most celebrated actors.

The decade was a varied one for Washington, mixing prestige projects, like Malcolm X and Philadelphia, with box office hits like Crimson Tide and The Pelican Brief. Long before The Equalizer movies, Washington was also building a solid career as an action star.

Of course, even a star like Washington has some underrated movies, especially from earlier in his career. One of these overlooked projects that is most deserving of being rediscovered also holds an interesting origin story before Washington was the star.

Ricochet Is One Of Denzel Washington’s Most Underrated Films

Denzel Washington Elevates The Solid Thriller With A Strong Performance

Ricochet is an underrated 1990s gem that combines a crime thriller and an action movie, while also giving Washington a stellar leading role. Washington plays Nick Styles, a cop turned District Attorney who becomes targeted by a dangerous escaped criminal, Blake (John Lithgow), whom he put away years ago.

The setup is a typical hero being pursued by a vengeful villain, but Ricochet is more interesting as it has a psychological thriller element to it. Blake is not content with just killing Nick, but instead wants to play a sadistic game in which he toys with him and relishes the feeling of power he has over him.

Ricochet is also elevated beyond the typical genre fare with some exceptional performances. Lithgow makes for a fantastic villain, infusing the cold-blooded killer with an eerie sense of glee as the carnage he inflicts. However, it is Washington who carries the movie and proves himself a leading movie star.

Washington’s lead character is not a cut-and-dry hero, and the actor brings nuance to those elements, grounding the more outlandish aspects of the movie. Washington’s intensity and complex performance bring the material to another level while also showing signs of the powerhouse actor he would become known as.

Ricochet Was Born From A Dirty Harry Script

Clint Eastwood Reportedly Felt The Script Was Too Grim

Denzel Washington made Ricochet his own. However, the original hero in the movie was not Nick Styles, but the iconic Clint Eastwood character, Harry Callahan. Writer Fred Dekker was a fan of the first two Dirty Harry movies, but was disappointed in the subsequent sequels. He therefore decided to write his own Dirty Harry sequel (via Flashback Files):

First of all, I really like Dirty Harry and Magnum Force. I’m a huge Eastwood fan. He’s one of my favorite movie stars. I think that Dirty Harry character was lightning in a bottle, because after the first two, the rest of the movies just weren’t up to snuff. So, I thought I would write a spec script.

Unbeknownst to me, I was ripping off a movie I hadn’t seen, which was Cape Fear. I said: What if Harry arrested a guy years ago and the guy gets out of jail and starts making his life hell? It’s fairly generic up to this point. My producer, Joel Silver, claims to have sent it to Clint, but that doesn’t make any sense. Joel had his own production company. He could just make it himself, which he did. He said that Clint thought it was “too grim” for him.

It is worth noting that Dekker addresses the similarities to Cape Fear, and while Ricochet’s plot does bring that classic thriller to mind, it manages to set itself apart quite well. Dekker also explained that after Eastwood pᴀssed on the role, he tried to get Kurt Russell to star, before the project found its way to Washington.

It would be interesting to see how much of that original Dirty Harry sequel script made its way into Ricochet. Washington’s hero, Nick Styles, certainly doesn’t feel like Harry Callahan, and the movie arguably wouldn’t work with a character who is so stuck in his ways.

Had Ricochet been a Dirty Harry movie, it is likely it would have gotten more attention. However, it is debatable whether Eastwood’s return as the famous cop character would have elevated the movie as much as Washington’s performance did.

Source: Flashback Files