A glimpse in reality

Rating: 7/10 (24 June 2013)

The movie is about the first day of Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a young soon to be narcotics officer, at work. It is actually a journey into the real world of the streets of LA as it is presented by prestigious detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). Hoyt soon realizes that Alonzo's methods are far from legal. All through his training day, he finds himself having to choose between his ethic and what Alonzo tells him what he should do, because the real world is a "jungle", and one has to be a "wolf" to survive in it. So, according to Alonzo, an officer could co-operate with drug dealers, steal money and even murder as long as he succeeds in his primary mission. Hoyt never seems to agree with this and when he finds out that the training is in fact a setup, he has to come after Alonzo. In the end Alonzo dies as a wolf because in this kind of game there is always a greater wolf.
This was a really interesting movie. It shows a completely different aspect than the ideal world of police in the US as it appears in many other movies or TV shows.
There is also an excellent performance by Denzel Washington. He surely deserved his Oscar award for that one.