An abrasive but standard-issue buddy police picture with a great Denzel performance

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2008)

Denzel Washington delivers a dynamic performance easily worth an Oscar as a rogue cop in director Antoine Fuqua's gritty urban crime thriller "Training Day," co-starring Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Snoop Doggie Dog, Macy Gray, and Tom Berenger. This unsavory but exciting R-rated law & order melodrama paints a considerably less than flattering portrait of police corruption in Los Angeles. Essentially, scenarist David ("U-571") Ayers has exploited the recent Ramparts police scandal in the L.A.P.D. as the basis for his controversial but contrived screenplay. While he infuses the film with his charismatic personality, Washington goes against-the-grain for a change as a dyed-in-the-wool villain who won't hesitate to double-cross friends. Not only does bad-ass Denzel tote a chrome-plated automatic pistol under each armpit, but also he cruises his asphalt domain in a customized obsidian-black 1978 Monte Carlo. Gear heads will drool over Denzel's ride which doubles as his office. As an extension of Alonzo's amoral character, the Monte Carlo compliments his roguish personality. Sadly, as psychological actioneers rate, "Training Day" lacks the tenacity that Washington imparts to his warlord-like antagonist. Fuqua and Ayer employ sentimental stratagems to align our sympathies with Ethan Hawke's half-hearted hero who turns wimp in the end. Surprisingly, unpardonable logistics sabotage Fuqua's mise-en-scene, especially in a rooftop foot chase! Further, the filmmakers bank on sheer coincidence to bail out the hero. A "Scarface" inspired scene as Latino gangsters prepare to ice our hero in a bathtub illustrates the worst of the coincidences. Ultimately, if "Training Day" constitutes the best Hollywood can offer as a cautionary tale about police corruption, we're all in trouble. Basically, the Darwinian message of "Training Day" is big-fish eat little-fish, or survival of the fittest, so what does it matter if how criminals buy it in the end if justice is served? As cynical as "Training Day" tries to portray itself, it winds up as a formulaic but flawed thriller about legal courtroom justice versus street justice.
Basically, this abrasive but standard-issue buddy police picture does nothing countless other thrillers like Sidney Lumet's "Serpico" (1973) haven't done better. Specifically, "Training Day" resembles a white-washed version of director Abel Ferrara's uncompromising 1994 dirty cop saga "Bad Lieutenant," starring Harvey Keitel as a heroin-shooting, trigger-happy, N.Y.P.D. detective in deep trouble with loan sharks. Like the Keitel character, Washington's renegade cop shoulders his share of problems. He has teed-off the Russians (presumably their mafia) during a wild and woolly weekend in Las Vegas, and they want payback. Even Alonzo's police superiors refuse to believe he is anything more than a walking dead man. Alonzo aims to prove them wrong and his narcissism makes him perversely appealing. Some of the problems with "Training Day" is what we learn about Alonzo's off-screen activities seems more interesting than what we see him do. Take the encounter with the Russians in Vegas. Apparently, Alonzo snapped, killed a guy, and the Russians have dispatched hit men to get him the same way the Colombians nailed Al Pacino in Brian De Palma's "Scarface." Nevertheless, Alonzo never loses his cool in "Training Day," because he believes he is in control, particularly with regard to a rookie auditioning for the sixth man slot on his elite team.
"Training Day" chronicles a 24-hour span in the life of young, idealistic, rookie cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke of "Dead Poets Society" & "Hamlet") who wants only to 'protect and serve' the public. Since joining the Los Angeles Police Department 19 months ago, Hoyt has been angling for a big break. Thirteen-year veteran L.A.P.D. Det. Sgt. Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington of "Remember the Titans"), who heads up an elite narcotics squad, provides that break. Harris gives Hoyt the chance of a life-time to prove he can perform undercover without getting himself smoked by a paranoid drug dealer. If Hoyt can make a favorable impression on Alonzo, he assures his young beautiful wife breast feeding their 10-month age, infant daughter they will be bound for a better life.
As a typical, formulaic American movie, "Training Day" relies on rewards and punishment to shape its morality. Hoyt interprets this assignment as his ticket to the big time. Not only is Hoyt in for a rude awakening, but also so is the audience. By the time those fateful 24 hours elapse; Hoyt will emerge as an entirely different person. His saintly ideals will be tarnished as well as his own sense of innocence. Anyway, Ethan Hawke gives an evocative performance, but the actions of his character ultimately undercut the brilliance of his acting. He plays a stereotypical hero who balks at doing what a hero's got to do. Hoyt's last confrontation with Alonzo underlines the weakness inherent in Hawke's character. As the young, hungry cop, Hoyt represents hope, so his refusal to rub out Alonzo smacks more of political correctness than dramatic closure. Similarly, "Training Day" compares these two characters and reminds us in no uncertain terms who epitomizes good and evil.
Director Antoine Fuqua, whose credits include "The Replacement Killers" and the slick Jamie Fox caper "Bait," gives "Training Day" a sleek, sharp, and snazzy look. Unfortunately, while the movie amounts to a visual feast for the eyes, David Ayer's script degenerates during the second half of the action. The hero stands for law and order, but he refuses to get himself dirty do his job. Clearly, "Training Day" contends that what you sow, so shall you reap. Anton Fuqua and David Ayer have made a passable film that provides reassurances if the cops cannot take care of corruption, then criminals will.