plot : this movie takes place over one day . 
it's a rookie cop's narcotics training alongside a seasoned police veteran . 
the rookie doesn't know much about " street justice " , so the older cop teaches him about the way things work in the " real world " . 
how even cops like themselves have to " bend the rules " and " break the law " every now and then , in order to catch the really bad guys . 
critique : a pretty intense little movie with solid acting across the board , some ups , some downs and a thrilling ending , despite a couple of small flaws . 
i really enjoyed this movie because it followed two extreme characters and put them in situations which had me wondering about what i would do if i were in their place . 
the film gets right into the " dirty " side of , well . . . the 
dirt on the streets , and proceeds to teach the rookie cop ( and us , the audience ) how things really work down there . 
of course , we're receiving this lesson from a man who has put away a lot of scum in his time , but the things he seems to be doing aren't exactly on the up-and-up either . 
and therein , lies the fun of the film . 
do you agree that you yourself would need to break a few small laws in order to put away the people who break the really big ones ? 
well , as the film moves along , we're given two points of view in respect to this predicament , and to me , both sides made sense at some point or another . 
and you gotta give a lot of credit to the screenplay for that , the director , who builds the film up wonderfully ( with the darkness of the day leading to the darkness in the script ) and the two actors who deliver their parts in spades . 
hawke , first off , because he rarely plays these " commercial " roles but does so perfectly here , with a vulnerable side which has you feeling for the bastard right off the top . 
and denzel , well , what can you say about mr . washington that hasn't already been said before ? 
he comes through as per his usual high-level style here , and gives the audience a completely different side to his talent , of which , i personally would like to see more . 
he's nice , he's not so nice , he's smart , he's not so smart , he's caring and he's a dog all the way . 
the few problems that i did have with this film included the redundant nature of the whole thing at some point ( okay , we get it . . . you 
have to be nasty in order to deal with these nasty people . . . move on ) and this one really major " coincidence " which involved a bathtub , that saved the day for one character , but seemed a little too " convenient " for my taste . 
i also never really understood how washington's character got out of a certain dire predicament , only to be seen driving his car in the very next scene . 
but obviously these small flaws didn't taint my overall enjoyment of this tense drama , a film that gets you right into the streets , into the nooks and the crannies , and into the moral dilemma which lies between the justice system and the day-to-day drug busts . 
see it if you want to wrestle with some of these issues yourself , see it if you want to see denzel and ethan strike up a palpable chemistry on-screen , and see it if you like holding on to your seat-handles real tight during a movie . 
in fact , see it for the scene in which ethan hawke plays cards with a host of gang-bangers alone . . . dang , now that's intense ! 
where's joblo coming from ? 
the corruptor ( 7/10 ) - crimson tide ( 9/10 ) - l . a . confidential ( /10 ) - lethal weapon ( 8/10 ) - requiem for a dream ( 8/10 ) - seven ( 10/10 ) - shaft ( 7/10 ) - traffic ( 8/10 )