Oddly enough despite its fine pedigree and several thumbs up recommendations from friends, I had avoided all opportunities to watch Training Day. I really have no idea why as it's a considerably above average 'buddy-buddy' cop drama, a genre which churns out hundreds of movies along the same lines every year. Denzel Washington and the equally good Ethan Hawke are what raise it above the usual, alongside good direction from music video meastro Antoine Fuqua and an effective if rather slight script from David Ayer (Fast and the Furious, U-571).
Focusing, naturally, upon just the one day it details the introduction to a 'specialist' police narcotics unit of Officer Jake Hoyt (Hawke, allegedly handpicked by Washington); young, moralistic yet ambitious he has volunteered for this unit as the fastest way of making detective. It is here that he meets the leader of the unit, Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington), whose only point of commanility with Hoyt is his equally burning ambition. This day is make or break for Hoyt, if he impresses Harris he's in and the sky is the limit in terms of what he can achieve. Fail though and it's back to walking the beat or sitting behind a desk. Immediately though he realises that Harris's way of doing things is little better than the criminals themselves; he uses drugs, beats up suspects and drinks with criminals. He has the whole town in his pocket but seems to do little legitimate work, and quickly embroils Hoyt in his way of life, blackmailing the young policeman in an effort to maintain his loyalty and show him exactly what he's getting himself into.
There's no doubt that Training Day is a good film, though it appears to be one in which the performances of Washington and Hawke are better than the material itself. Washington is superb, acting alternatively calm and crazy but despite his personal problems always maintaining the self-confidence which he has clearly exhibited for many years before we get to see him. Hawke too is excellent, and rather overlooked after Washington's Oscar for his role, playing the cliched role of rookie moralistic cop brilliantly. His beliefs constantly fight with his ambition throughout the film, and it's clear that his character is willing to give up some of the former to fulfil the latter, but just how much? You're never quite sure how far he will go, or where his line is, and this conveys a considerable amount of added tension to what could jut have been an A-typical double-cross cop movie. Add in a few good performances from such established supporting actors as Curtis, Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin and Nick Chinlund, and you have a movie which went above itself in terms of ability but nevertheless is quite familiar to the viewing public. |
