One of the best negative roles that you can feel hatred for.

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2002)

Simply the great! Denzel Washington has done it again and this time he played a character which is altogether different from his all previous roles.Every time Denzel has played some new character he has set standards for other actors to follow.Here too he has lived upto the challenge of playing a bad guy like that of a corrupt,law-breaking sergeant Alonzo for which you could feel disgust,hatred,fearful respect and awe at the same time. Ethan Hawke too is simply brilliant in expressing the character of a cop on his first day of duty who is initially excited about and ready to follow the rules by the law-book but then gets shocked and subdued by the law bending and even law breaking tactics of Alonzo Harris. As far as the movie movie is concerned it a decent flick expressing corruption in the police force but has been made an affair to remember by Denzel Washington. Truly the best negative performance after Norman Bates(Psycho),Dr. Hannibal Lecter(The Silence of the Lambs),Keyser Soze(The Usual Suspects)and ofcourse after that of Alan Rickman in Robinhood and other movies. Finally,though not an Oscar deserving movie but an Oscar deserving acting.