Meandering and Ridiculous

Rating: 3/10 (28 September 2010)

A rookie cop spends a day getting schooled in the ways of street life by a decorated narcotics officer. Washington, playing against type as the epitome of a bad cop, is so over the top that it is not surprising that he won an Oscar for this role. He is supposed to be charismatic but the character is not the least bit likable. The script starts off as meandering, with hardly any sustained narrative during the first half; it then crams in too much plot and ends up as unbelievably stupid, including a key scene that hinges on a silly coincidence. The action scenes are utterly ridiculous, with Fuqua not making any attempt to infuse credibility into them.