Training Day

December 12, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 123 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Movies For Guys’ Original Review of the Theatrical Release

Training Day

Training Day is the latest movie to star Denzel Washington. But do not go into this one expecting him to play one of his typical likeable characters. This is the type of film that should leave it up to the individual viewer to decide who is really the bad guy here and just how bad they are, but suffice to say this is a character with much rougher edges than we typically see Denzel play.

The story is about rookie cop Jake Hoyt’s (Ethan Hawke) first day trying out for a new job on an elite narcotics unit of the LAPD, headed by Denzel Washington’s character Alonzo Harris. Hoyt is totally green to the point of maybe being naive, but he is also very pure and honest. Alonzo’s character is pretty much the opposite. He’s hardened, experienced and street wise to the extreme. His feeling is to catch the truly bad people, you’ve gotta be just as bad as they are. This leads to a very interesting first day on the job for Hoyt as he tries to figure out whether he’s just being tested, or whether Alonzo is really a criminal himself, or is this just the way law enforcement is done at the high levels.

As you might expect, there’s a lot of action along the way. We get alot of gun play and some big time fist fights to boot. But this isn’t really an action movie, it’s more of a drama and character piece. It could even be called a very screwed up buddy movie.

This isn’t the type of movie you’ll catch yourself watching over and over again, but it is worth watching at least once just to see Denzel’s really over the top performance. As such we give it 3 stars. There’s not alot of competition at the box office right now, but even if you miss it there be sure to check out the DVD.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 3 Stars, DVD, Denzel Washington, Dr. Dre, Drama, Ethan Hawke, R, Snoop Dogg, Tom Berenger