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Training Day
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre
Running Time: 2:00
Country: USA
Year: 2001
Web: Official Site
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With its quasi-documentary approach to the tough laws of the streets of Los Angeles, Training Day could have been a good realistic cop movie. Regrettably, a scenario too extravagant to be credible thwarts the merits of the project.
In Training Day a young recruit—Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke)—embarks on a long and testing day in the hell pof Los Angeles streets and police corruption under the guidance of crooked cop Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington).
From downtown's filthy alleys to gang territories, the film offers good insight into the most dangerous neighborhoods of the city and the law of the street. One inevitably thinks of Colors, and it is clear that more than ten years later, the report is the same. The only new matter is the use of a news story that ate away at the image of the LAPD these last few years. The Rampart scandal saw the indictment numerous anti-gang policemen for their fraudulent and unorthodox actions.
Antoine Fuqua offers an effective film that aims for realism. The sensible scenes to take place on gangland were effectively filmed. The extras there are also, for the most part, real gang members. So the film has a dimension of cinéma vérité, which stresses the tension of certain engrossing sequences.
Those like me who had more than enough of Denzel Washington's mawkish and positive roles must admit that his performance as a corrupt cop is intense when he doesn't overdo it. Ethan Hawke is also a judicious choice because he has the naiveté necessary for his young policeman role. Training Day also benefits from some crisp appearances of rappers Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr. Dre as well as of the unrecognizable Macy Gray.
The problem of the film resides in the script. The avalanche of events taking place the first day of training is as far-fetched as Alonzo's propensity to display his corruption under Jake's nose from day one. It seems that the Alonzo's character wants to outmatch, at all costs, Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant. Unfortunately, Denzel Washington is not Harvey Keitel and in this case, an excessive scenario and over acting does a disservice to its main criticism and the representation of extreme actions.
One wasted day, a pity indeed.
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Fred Thom
 Tears of the Sun
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Training Day review
