Takes you for a neat ride... and then keeps going when it should have stopped.

Rating: Null/10 (27 October 2001)

*** o/o **** "Training Day" is a Drama/Thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua (Bait, The Replacement Killers) and stars Oscar winner Denzel Washington (Remember the Titans, The Hurricane, Glory) and Ethan Hawke (Michael Almereyda's Hamlet, Snow Falling on Cedars, Great Expectations) It is released by Warner Bros. at a running time of 120 min. It is rated R for brutal violence, persuasive language, drug content, and brief nudity.
The basic story is as follows: Jake Hoyt (Hawke) is a husband and father who has been a cop for 18 months. He is training to be a narcotics officer. On his training day he is assigned to Alonzo Harris who will show him the ropes. Alonzo at some times is bitter but at other times is fun. But Jake is surprised when he finds out how Alonzo is corrupt and conniving. And soon Jake is intertwined in Alonzo's plan to deliver a large sum of money after a mistake made with the Russian Mafia.
First of all this movie is performance based... the script doesn't give it any oomph and neither is the direction anything special. It is simply wonderful performances by Washington and Hawke (though Hawke will most likely be overlooked by Washington). The movie is paced very well at the beginning with Hawke waking up and meeting Denzel... then we get the intensity point as they go from bust to bust. There are surprisingly impressive cameos by Snoop Dogg and Macy Gray that also push the movie along. Scott Glenn also gives a worthwhile performance as Roger, Alozo's "supposed" friend. 1 hr. 40 mins. in I was thinking, whoa that was one of the best endings I have ever seen! And then the movie continued.

This is the movies fatal flaw... it should have quit when it was ahead... hell, I might have given it an extra half of a star if it had ended then but it all boiled up to a rooftop jumping and then loud ending.
Academy Potential: I am deeming this much too violent for the Academy to choose Denzel for a Best Actor nomination. It's just to much of an action flick to be considered... it would be like nominating Stallone for "Cliffhanger".
While the film has a horrible flaw... it's still enjoyable to watch the stars in brilliant performances. So the movie isn't completely wasted, just less than expected.