A pretty standard cop thriller is livened up by a good (if not Oscar-worthy) performance from Washington

Rating: Null/10 (24 May 2004)

After making his application to join a special unit within the LAPD, Officer Jake Hoyt is assigned to his new boss, Alonzo Harris for a training day on the job. Harris immediately shows Hoyt a way of work that is foreign to him  making him smoke drugs and drink at the very start of his shift. From this point onwards, Hoyt is taken on an eye opening training day that forces him to depart from his professional ethics and try to understand how things are done on the street. But is Harris really working for justice his own way or is he working for himself  and how far will Hoyt sink before he cannot justify it anymore?
When this film came out I wanted to see it as a thriller; after the Oscar for Washington I wanted to see it for another reason and eventually got round to seeing it on video. The plot starts on familiar territory and pretty much continues along the same road for the whole film  it is never really more than an average cop thriller but it still manages to be quite enjoyable. The film sticks to the 'ends justify the means' plot device for the first half but then pull back to reveal a wider plot that is more of a standard thriller. In the first half this is all stuff we have seen before and it sort of works but not as well as things like The Shield etc  Alonzo is too out there to manage to make me be for him and against him; unlike the Shield where you are constantly being challenged by Mackey. The second half is more dramatic and, although a bit forced, is necessary to bring the film round to a dramatic conclusion.
The Oscar for Denzel was not deserved in my opinion. Having now seen his performance I will acknowledge that he is a big part of this film working but he is not Oscar worthy here. Actually his performance is just par for the course for this type of film  yes he is a bit of a powerhouse and his tough delivery really makes the film move but it is hardly worthy of being called the best performance of the year even if it is really effective within the context of the film. Hawke is pretty good but obviously plays second fiddle to Washington's scene stealing performance; he is wide eyed as required and he serves well as our entry into Alonzo's world. The support cast features quite a few well known faces but mostly they are underused and play slightly worn ethnic clichés full of tattoos and 'mo-fo' dialogue  Macy Gray, Dre and Snoop represent the rap community while Mendes shows ass and Glenn, Yulin, Barry and Greene add recognisable faces if nothing else.
Overall this is an enjoyable but standard cop thriller that has gotten better reviews than it perhaps deserves. Although he doesn't not deserve his Oscar for this, Washington's performance still drives the film and is fun nonetheless and certainly livens up what is, for all it's stars and it's publicity, is still a standard cop thriller with bells on.