Tough cop shows rookie the ropes, L.A. cop style. Great performances. Strong direction. Violent. Eratic plot. 3 Flys.Out of Five

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 2001)

Denzel Washington sure can play a great bad guy. In Training Day he plays Alonzo Harris the cop you'd just have to hate, unless you were as corrupt and violent as this mean b*****d is. But then he has locked away a good many criminals.
He takes into his charge young Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) who hopes to make it into Alonzo's elite drug squad and in one rather hectic day shows Jake the ropes. `To protect the sheep you gotta kill the wolf and it takes a wolf to kill the wolf,' is Alonzo's mantra and he belts Jake about both morally and physically, in the name of justice, L.A. cop style
I hated Training Day for nearly all of its length but certainly not because it's a poorly made movie. It's just that it painted such an unrelenting picture of nastiness, selfishness and thuggery, and presented this message strongly as being the only right, proper and effective way of dealing with Alonzo's environment. The softer side of me just screamed for civility, niceness and the rule of law.
But not Alonzo's street law. If the world is or might become really like this, especially in my town, well, we'd be in big trouble.
Bad, vigilante cop movies aren't rare. Training Day is a beauty though, graced with a very good cast, a strong if erratic script from David Ayer (The Fast and the Furious, U-571) and exciting direction from Antoine Fuqua (Bait, The Replacement Killer).
The performances are remarkable especially from Denzel Washington who discards that kind, lovable, demeanour of his to show just how terrific is his acting ability. Ethan Hawke complements Washington and that's a complement.
Cameo's from Snoop Dogg and in particular Macy Gray as an embittered housewife are very strong as is Scott Glenn's as former cop Roger.
Training Day often stretches credibility, particularly in it's final stages, but its intensity overcomes those sorts of reservations. It's not the sort of film I'd recommend for entertainment. If you enjoy tension and fine performances and you can take violence not too far to heart then Training Day could fuel your passions.
3 Well Trained Flys Out of Five