Starring Denzel Washington, Jake Hoyt, Scott Glenn, Macy Gray, Tom Berenger,
Cliff Curtis, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog. Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Jake Hoyt (Hawke) is a young and ambitious police officer with 18 months of experience.
He's just received his big chance transferring into an elite narcotics unit, hoping
a stay there will elevate him into a detective's job and better pay. He gets a call
from his new boss Alonzo Harris (Washington), the leader of a five-man police undercover
group. He hops into Alonzo's souped up Chevy Monte Carlo and their crime-fighting day
begins.
Except it seems Alonzo perpetrates more crimes than he solves. They start by stopping
a bunch of college kids who had just bought some drugs, and Alonzo takes their drugs
and their money and pockets it. He forces Jake to smoke the drugs at gunpoint. He
drinks shots with a local drug dealer. He obtains a warrant to make a search of a
house with the only purpose being snatching a large sum of money. But after a meeting
with three influential and crooked law enforcement officials, Jake soon realizes Alonzo
has an agenda. Jake has been thrust into the middle of it - can he figure his way out?
Intense, entertaining, and initially plausible Training Day is not an expose
on police corruption as much as a character study of one man who has gotten himself
into trouble, and is breaking whatever laws, rules and people he has to in order to
save his hide.
The movie is very good at showing how Jake's desire to be in Alonzo's unit and not
be stuck doing mundane patrol work. It allows Jake to be surprised by, but then eventually
accept each one of Alonzo's law breaking acts as Alonzo threatens to send him back to
his suburban patrol job. Alonzo's philosophy is that he and his
unit officers must be wolves, not sheep in going after the criminals, meaning they have
to get a bit of dirt on them to make the biggest impact on crime. Alonzo is a world-class
manipulator - he says just enough of what Jake wants to here to keep him onside. As
the movie unfolds, we learn that Alonzo will do and say whatever he has to get what
he wants and what he wants is not the pursuit of justice.
The major flaw in the film is the ending. Events throughout the movie are relatively
plausible until the end when the climatic confrontation between the two police officers
features violence of biblical proportions. The overall result and Jake's strategy make
sense - it's just the long and drawn out fight feels as if it's there to allow for Denzel
to provide Serious Acting.
Built as a vehicle for Denzel Washington to provide a tour de force performance, he
pulls out all the stops. Playing mostly flawed but heroic figures in his most recent films,
he has a chance to play a bad guy, and he has a great time doing it. Sometimes, it's
a bit much. Unlike Malcolm X where he delivered a powerful yet well-controlled
performance, here he goes all out, chewing whatever scenery he can get his hands on.
He is mostly fun to watch, but a little more restraint wouldn't have hurt. Strangely,
the more compelling and interesting work is done by Ethan Hawke, who deftly shows
Snoop Dogg is very good in a small role as a disabled drug dealer, while Scott Glenn
takes the scenery chewing route as Alonzo's drug dealer buddy.
Those looking for a serious examination of police corruption will be disappointed. Instead,
Training Day is a character study of a seriously flawed individual who gets by
with bravado and an ability to utilize human weaknesses to manipulate people to his
advantage. It is worth seeing, but it would have been better a little more low-key and a
little less dramatic.
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