An intruiging, intense angle to the traditional cop movie

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2004)

Better than a typical out-of-line-cop action movie, Training Day delivers as a solid drama with enough action to keep things stirring.
Ethan Hawke's naive character allows us as viewers to 'feel' the intensity & chaos of L.A.'s back alleys and neighborhoods, while steadily unravelling Denzel Washington's character as an increasingly crooked narc officer who seems to know no boundaries.
Perhaps the greatest success of this film is it lacks the predicatability of many other cop movies where the 'rogue cop' does have ultimate limits (i.e. The Negotiator, Bad Boys, etc), because he's really deep down a good guy. In this movie you really have to wonder if, for Washington, that good vs. evil line is ever drawn.
I feel the best part of the movie, and most suspensful, is the poker game scene. It makes a viewer truly identify with the vulnerablitity of being completely isolated, and defensless, amidst a den of cold-hearted strangers.
I would recommend seeing this movie, if for any reason to see a slightly different angle to the traditional Hollywood-cop-movie formula.