An Excellent Cop/Action Movie

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2001)

Young police officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) tries to prove himself to a senior cop, Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), to be admitted into his narcotic unit in LAPD in his first day. The whole story takes place in just one day but what a day that is! From the beginning to the end, they witness all kinds of criminal events as they cruise down the back streets of Los Angeles. Jake is a straight arrow and completely honest, yet equally naïve. Throughout the day, he desperately tries to handle the situations he encounters in his own naïve way whereas Alonzo, who is much more experienced in the field, has completely different methods of resolving issues. As a result, they often disagree over how each situation should be handled and Jake realizes that his views are mostly in conflict with those of his senior officer. However, since his objective is to get into narcotics department and since the only way is to impress Alonzo, Jake obeys Alonzo's orders. After all, Alonzo is the expert in the field so he should know better.

The best thing about the movie is that it keeps the audience guessing right till the end about the actual morality of Alonzo. Is he really a corrupt police officer as inexperienced Jake suspects him to be or are his ways really how things are handled in the narcotics department of LAPD? Neither the audience nor Jake really knows the answer to that question for it is Jake's (and also our) first day in that field. Who are we or who is Jake to judge Alonzo's morality who spent many years in this field? Can we really say for sure that his methods are not practised in reality? After every argument, when Jake tries to rest his case, Alonzo comes back with a stronger argument and convinces him that his methods are the best. Of course, you don't know the answers to these questions until the end unless you haven't read the complete plotline. I honestly think whoever is responsible with the publicity of this movie doesn't know anything about the art of movie making. The same goes for the person who is responsible with the plotline which gives away everything about the movie. If you haven't seen this movie yet, do yourself a favor: DO NOT READ ANY reviews (especially the plotline in the "Main Details" page) which give away the whole story.
Possible Oscar Nominations: Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke both deserve Oscar nominations (Best Leading/Supporting Actor) for their excellent performances. Antoine Fuqua has done a very nice job as a director by capturing the ambience on the streets and with his depiction of criminals' lives, especially of those in the black neighbourhood. Each scene is nicely done and the suspense is so authentic. I was especially impressed by the tension in the scene where Jake sits down at the poker table with the guys waiting for Alonzo to come back. You can find a similar tension maybe in a horror movie.
What I didn't like (***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***): I didn't like the publicity of this movie where Denzel Washington was openly declared to portray a corrupted cop which probably is the biggest movie spoiler that I have ever encountered in my life. The best part of the movie is the puzzle it creates over Alonzo's real character because it is not possible for the audience to decide whether or not issues are handled in Alonzo's ways in special narcotic division. Given his real character away is to kill the joy of the entire movie. Even at the end of their day, during their conversation in the car, Alonzo's explanation is very convincing and makes perfect sense. Only thing I didn't like about the movie itself is the scene where Jake jumps from the terrace of the building to the Alonzo's car after beaten up pretty badly. This scene was not realistic.