Great first half & performances/slips in end

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 2002)

Denzel Washington performance has been dubbed Oscar-worthy since the film opened. It is that good. Will the Academy award him the Oscar for such a loathsome character? Probably not. TRAINING DAY opens extremely well. The first half is taut, well-written & directed, with the aforementioned top notch Washington performance. Hawke is fine for most of the film, although occasionally, he seems to be playing the "rookie" part a little too literally. One still has to believe that the character DID make it through the Police Academy and 19 months on the sometimes very tough streets of the San Fernando Valley (believe me, they ain't all dotted with Starbucks!). Around the 2/3 mark however, I think the film makes a wrong turn and becomes the kind of pro-forma cop/action flick that pervades the "action" shelf at your local video store. Too bad, it could have said something more profound about the state of police work in modern day big cities (and no matter how "farfetched" you might think some of the events are, just keep in mind that the LAPD has had just these kinds of scandals). Worth seeing for Washington and a terrific first half, though.