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| Unmissable |
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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
18 | | Cast
Denzel Washington
Ethan Hawke
Scott Glenn
Cliff Curtis. | | Directors
Antoine Fuqua. | | Screenwriters
David Ayer. | | Running Time
122 minutes |
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Training Day
Plot
Greenhorn L. A. cop Jake Hoyt hooks up with narcotics officer Alonzo Harris for a training day that will make or break him. Pass the test, he becomes a detective. Fail, it’s back to traffic duty. But nothing prepares Jake for Alonzo, who is slowly revealed to be a corrupt cop. Review
Training Day could have so easily been bottom-shelf fodder. But thanks to Denzel Washington’s fantastic against-type performance as the none-more-black anti-hero, Alonzo Harris, and — most surprisingly — the thoughtful and stylish direction of Antoine Fuqua, this in fact resembles nothing less than an urban L. A. Confidential.
It shares themes of corruption, betrayal and redemption with Curtis Hanson’s classic, not to mention several tense set-pieces, including a drug ‘bust’ best viewed through the fingers. And all this from the director of The Replacement Killers. Who’d have thunk it?
One can only guess how the LAPD feels about this movie.
For, Hoyt aside, every cop here is outrageously dirty, while it’s the criminals that cling to an honourable set of values. And if Fuqua eventually shoehorns the complex moral debate into a traditional good vs. evil finale, it’s still a damning indictment of the situation on L. A.’s streets, where the cops are so powerless they have to break the law to make a difference.
Performance-wise, Hawke fares well in a role that eventually transcends its repetitive nature. In fact, many of the film’s dramatic flashpoints can be summed up in a single, one-size-fits-all exchange, which goes something like this: Washington: Do something bad. Hawke: No. Washington: Oh, go on. Hawke: (pause) Alright, then.
However, the film belongs to the swaggering Washington. Armed with dainty PC catchphrase “my nigger” and wearing jewellery from Ali G ’R’ Us, by the time you realise that Harris is up to no good on an almighty scale, your — and Hawke’s — complicity is assured.
Verdict
Marred slightly by an unsatisfactory climax, this is a cracking cop drama anchored by great performances and intelligent direction from Fuqua. It’s refreshing to see a thriller worthy of the label.
Reviewed by Chris Hewitt
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Average user rating for Training Day
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| Insipid But Gripping | | Any film that features Denzil Washington performing in this calibre automatically deserves a recommend, especially when it's in a film that is actually good! Whilst it pales next to certain other films Washington has since acted in (Man On Fire springs to mind), there's an aspect at the heart of Training Day that makes it compulsive viewing. It's an exciting and enjoyable cop drama with a somewhat anticlimactic twist, but this truly is one of those films that is about the journey, and not the de... More | | | Posted by blaud at 16:39, 28 March 2013 | Report This Post | |
| | | Training Day Review | | The ending may be less than satisfying, but Ethan Hawke gives a great supporting performance and Denzel Washington reminds us why he's such a great actor in this taut and brutal police drama. ... More | | | Posted by the film man at 21:29, 02 January 2012 | Report This Post | |
| | | Powerful Stuff. | | Once Training Day begins, you are instanly sucked in and can't get out until the creidts roll on screen. It's powerful stuff, never ending edge of your seat moments and a story to grip your teeth on. Pefomances are excllent, especially Denzel Washington who won a Oscar for it and Ethan Hawke. The scenery is beautiful, it feels like you are right there watching it unfold right before your eyes. One to check out for sure. ... More | | | Posted by joanna likes films at 14:54, 12 June 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | Powerful Stuff. | | Once Training Day begins, you are instanly sucked in and can't get out until the creidts roll on screen. It's powerful stuff, never ending edge of your seat moments and a story to grip your teeth on. Pefomances are excllent, especially Denzel Washington who won a Oscar for it and Ethan Hawke. The scenery is beautiful, it feels like you are right there watching it unfold right before your eyes. One to check out for sure. ... More | | | Posted by joanna likes films at 14:54, 12 June 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | a very good thriller with great acting ... More | | | Posted by casino at 13:45, 23 July 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | Very Enjoyable | | Training Day is well worth a watch. Its Is enjoyable and sucks you into the world of bent police-men. Denzel Washington's acting in this film is immense. ... More | | | Posted by DJ Funktris at 16:06, 08 July 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | Merely Good | | Overrated. Good, to be sure, but there are too many leaps of logic or coincidence (Hawke just happens to save a gangster's neice). Washington just seems to be grandstanding. Underneath it all is the usual chalk and cheese buddy cop movie. ... More | | | Posted by Caster at 11:01, 28 May 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | Training Day | | A stylish yet truly chilling snapshot of LA's sinister drug culture, Fuqua's sophomore effort crackles with an atmospheric charge from start to finish. In Washington's mountainous performance, all slick talk and cold, devilish intent, the film has one of modern cinema's truly startling portrayals of corrupted, flawed power.
His actions despicable and treacherous, his quietly leering features almost unwatchable, this is the Denzel long-promised but often swept aside by the noble, ... More | | | Posted by Eomer_King at 11:03, 23 April 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | It's Okay.. | | The film feels somewhat cliched and overworked, bringing nothing new to a popular genre. This said, it does offer entertainment and great moments of psychological conflict. The Oscar winning Washington however is strangley underwhelming, and not entirely convincing as a rogue cop. Hawke on the other hand fairs better but is lumbered with an uninteresting role. On the whole, deeply average. ... More | | | Posted by Grandma Death at 18:21, 13 February 2006 | Report This Post | |
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