Give back the Oscar, D.

Rating: 5/10 (21 August 2004)

Denzel was totally over-rated as a corrupt cop in this middling tale of street life. He won the Best Actor Oscar in 2002 for his portrayal of a shady streetwise detective, but let's face it- he does nothing remarkable in this film. He just raises his voice and tries to "out-act" everybody else on screen. Ethan Hawke was also nominated, and is actually much more impressive and truthful as the rookie cop (whose first day on the job with Denzel lends the film its title.) Denzel is always competent, but his turn as the bad guy in TRAINING DAY never amounts to anything but a gimmicky career move. I suppose his Oscar win just goes to show how much the Academy loves an actor showing off, whether its Nicole Kidman or Charlize Theron uglying up for their Best Actress wins, or Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, or Dustin Hoffman playing handicapped for theirs. In this case, Denzel was the Biggest Showoff of 2001.