What's wrong with this picture?

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2001)

There is only one reason why this flick will never have its rightful place in Hollywood history. With great anticipation, I watched Denzel Washington (who I believe walks on water) take on his first roll as a bad guy. Even though his performance was stellar, there was just something significantly wrong with this film throughout. While contemplating the thin line between art imitating life and its opposite, consider the following.
A Hollywood good guy who takes on the role of a bad guy is best served by pairing with someone who is also reputed as good. Remember the movie "Heat"? Ethan Hawke is not that guy.
While the movie was set in the most notorious urban jungle, the good cop managed to do some things that simply can't be done by a white cop in a real environment of the same notoriety. Even people from the squeaky clean suburbs know that downtrodden minorities have no love (or trust) for white police officers simply because they are white (the oppressor). I could go on criticizing Training Day for other little quirks, but it really would not matter. There truly is only one reason why this potentially great movie (great like Gladiator) won't ever be regarded as such. Somebody made a fatal casting mistake. If Cuba Gooding Jr. had been the rookie, you can bet that this movie would have been in line for several Oscar awards. As fate would have it instead, Denzel Washington's first performance as a bad guy may go down in history as a forgettable moment. Imagine a sequel to this movie starring Ethan Hawke now as a veteran. Would you go see it? What a shame... Denzel did such an awesome job!