Best Crooked Cop Performance I've seen thus far.

Rating: 10/10 (20 April 2020)

Training Day is a fast paced maniacal, dirty, crude whirlwind that will leave you reflecting on how you would deal with the ambushes and immorality that Hoyt faced. Are you a wolf or are you a shepherd? Only a wolf can catch wolves. Alonzo's philosophy justified many of the actions he made, but clearly understood the type of person that he was and what he had become. We never knew if Alonzo actually was a good cop at the beginning of his career, but his personality is so crass, vulgar, and duplicitous one can only conclude that he was the crooked cop all along.
Ethan as Hoyt gives a good performance as the rookie cop that is hopeful and morally driven. We get some slight instances of character development at the beginning of the movie that solidified his character, but he was largely able to carry himself the persona of authenticity and naivety that was needed for that role. He was continually manipulated by Alonzo and walked the fine line between being submissive and not being weak, excellently. The gestures offered by the movie were brilliant. Hoyt fought and restrained two homeless people that were attempting to rape a teenager, stark contrast to Alonzo just watching and then releasing them after giving them a severe and savage "street" lesson. We were reminded repeatedly the temperament and value structure of both Alonzo and Hoyt.
The street smart is a recurrent theme in the movie. It was clear at the onset that Hoyt had to forget everything he heard in the academy and adapt to Alonzo's philosophy to be able to survive. I would say that the ability to connect with people on the streets gave Alonzo some needed advantage to be able to infiltrate the circles that he needed to police, but the clear issue was to not transform into those criminals, but, as he mentioned, he needed to become a wolf like them to be able to catch them. The fascinating part about this movie is the complexity and ruthlessness that the streets conditions are displayed for people that want to make a meaningful change. A clear quandary is presented to the viewer where we are invited to reflect on complex and innovative ways to understand the sadist, vicious, uncertain dynamics of the streets.
Ultimately, the message sent by the movie is that corrupt cops will eventually get punished for their decisions. Alonzo was playing too many people and ended having no people he could trust or depend on. Hoyt was saved by the sole just action that he did the entire day, providential or maybe unlikely, but the movie teaches us that if anyone aims to construct any change, it cannot be done by a single person, and no one will trust to take that path with you if you continue being duplicitous.