***** out of 5

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2002)

A mezmorizing performance from Denzel Washington as a corrupt street cop who likes to enforce street justice is alone enough to get this movie five stars. Ethan Hawke is also very good as a rookie cop who is sent out on a day on the streets with Washington, but Hawke being the good cop that he is doesn't like what he sees and gets himself even deeper than he can handel. The film suffers from a weak final act that transforms a gritty and almost brillent crime drama to a cliched action film that sets Washington up as the bad guy which he really isn't but due to the near perfect acting it isn't really a big deal. The violence is brutal in nature and graphic in content but only adds to the raw power that this movie delivers. Not to be missed.