Denzel is one bad motherÂ…definitely worth checking out now! Great acting and a lot of action keep this good the whole way through.

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2002)

All of the buzz is true! Denzel Washington's performance in this movie is amazing. This marks his first time as a `bad guy' and he plays it so well. The film is about a lowly suburban traffic cop named Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), who gets his `break' by getting a chance to prove himself as a narc for a day under the supervision of Alonzo Harris (Washington), a shady vet cop whose undercover tactics are less than conventional. They drive around the rough parts of LA in Alonzo's low-rider Monte Carlo going from one questionable `bust' to another.
Alonzo sets up Jake by making him smoke some confiscated PCP-laced marijuana that taints his blood, leaving Alonzo open to changing his story and having Jake as his pawn. Jake quickly sees that this is not the kind of law enforcement that he bargained for, but is stuck with him in every scary moment, at least for the `training day'. While Alonzo runs in a ring of rouge cops, he is not flawless in his procedures. He has some high-ranking city officials behind him, who quickly lose faith in him when he screws up a job in Las Vegas (which is never really explained too well). Jake must then try to get himself out of a bad situation, which only grows worse as the day goes on.
Director Antoine Fuqua (`The Replacement Killers') does a great job of keeping the steady pace of the film and keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat. Showing his music video director cred, artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Macy Gray find parts in the film as well, but not as silly cameos. The writing is top notch and the good cop/bad cop angles are grittier than ever.
While Washington has Oscar buzz all around him, it seems unlikely that a movie like this would get nominated, even with his superb performance. It is not a perfect movie and it's not your `traditional' red carpet Oscar contender. But as usual, Denzel never disappoints. For the viewer, this is definitely worth the money to catch it in the theater. Although the violence may be sensitive for some viewers right now, most people should be able to take it for what it is: a good action flick with great acting.