"The realness" indeed

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2001)

We've all seen the corrupt cop flick done before, and done well. But it is not so often that we get much more than the standard good cop/bad cop affair. Training Day often goes beyond the limits of Hollywood with its careful dissection of the moral and ethical dilemma cops face when dealing with "the streets" while still remaining a Hollywood flick.
What works so well is the combination of faced paced drama that we and our Rookie cop, Ethan Hawke, are thrown into and the intellectual debate that rages today over "the streets" and "what to do about it." Hawke's ethics relate closely to that of MLK while Washington takes more of Malcom X's position (fittingly so).
Denzel's character may be corrupt now, but the film hints at a change from earlier views, almost as if "the streets" showed him that there was no other way of functioning as an effective Narc. Understanding the value of being "real," he believes to be most important in getting things done. A "naive, wanna save the world" rookie cop, in his mind, ain't gonna cut it out there. And he tries to get Hawke's character to understand his views. But while this is happening we are then shown how by being so closely related to "the streets," and even living there, what it has done to him.

Who is more right in dealing with "the streets," Hawke or Washington?

There we have the foundation for the story.
We are pretty much thrown into Ethan Hawke's position of constant wonderment of Washington's character. And for the most part it works. Is this how things get done? Can one be a "good" cop and be effective? Is there no hope for the victims of the situation?
And the dilemma plays on to a fast beat. Very good stuff.
The only surprise was where was all of the hip-hop music from the soundtrack? the moody score was effective, but they could have added more than one or two tracks from the soundtrack.