Even though I was inundated by the commercials, and had even heard a TV review of the film, “Training Day” turned out not to be what I thought it would be. I had assumed that it would be a little more 'Dirty Harry' with Denzel Washington playing a good cop, who gets results, but doesn't play by the rules. Instead, I can see why this was delayed after the September 11th bombing. Denzel Washington does play a cop who doesn't play by the rules, but is a bad guy. A really bad guy.

Even after I realized how bad Washington’s character is, the movie still managed to surprise me by where it ended up and how it got there. I consider this to be no small feat for today’s mainstream movies. I don’t feel too bad about not seeing where the movie was headed since there are some false leads early on about the film’s moral direction. When Ethan Hawke shows distaste for what Denzel is doing, he makes remarks about the right and moral path a police officer should follow. Denzel makes comments like "You sound just like me when I was a Rookie". A drug dealer even makes that same observation when he meets Ethan for the first time with Denzel. This made me think there would be some sort of moral rescue by the film's end. Nope! Not here. This just isn't that type of film.

The acting is generally very good. Washington is getting a lot of attention for his role, because it is his first 'bad guy' part. I think complimenting it for being different does his performance some disservice. Many actors could play a bad guy well, but Washington’s character is very complex. At first glance, Washington’s character may seem to be two-dimensional and narrowly drawn. The more you think about him, you realize that he is as complex as much so as in any great work of fiction. I would compare his character as even smarter, and less moralistic than Richard Gere’s crooked cop in “Internal Affairs” from over a decade ago.

Unfortunately by comparison, Ethan Hawke’s performance is woefully two-dimensional. I’d like to think it is just because he has the bad luck to have to perform against such a colorful character played by Denzel, but I just don’t think he was up to the part. Other actors might have been able to show and do more without having to approach anywhere near the over the top nature of Denzel. I am a little bothered by the fact that Hawke got nominated for best supporting actor. Aside from the fact that he was really a lead actor, not supporting, he just wasn’t that good, and certainly not one of the year's five best.

Even many of the minor characters make better actors than Ethan. In fairness, however, I think the director makes better actors than some of the minor characters should be. Rap stars tend to make notoriously bad actors, and here I think they are given just enough to do so that they can be tightly reined into performing well.

Antoine Fuqua, the director, also did the very disappointing "The Replacement Killers. It had some flashy moments, but the differences between this film and that one are immense. Although both dealt with a mixture of good and bad and people torn between their moral decisions, none of the genius of this film can be found in that one. But in both films, there is a large array of minor characters who add a lot of depth to the environment.

In this film, character after character is introduced, with each one more complex than we have seen in the previous few year’s popular films. Every person in this film seems to have a double identity, or at least something to hide. There are at least a dozen minor characters in this film, and each one ends up being drastically different than the blatant character they initially look like. Scott Glen’s character looks like a low level street pusher. Only later do you realize what sort of major secret he holds buried underneath his house. The three high ranking officers in business suits look like they are the kind of respectable cops that Washington has to behave around. They aren’t, and I could easily assume that they use Denzel to kill perpetrators they don’t want the system to deal with. A poor junkie mother has a large cache of drug money hidden in her house. A crippled street pusher really is hiding drugs when we think Washington is just torturing an innocent man. No one is who they seem, with the possible exception of Hawke.

The writer really knows how to give the actors great dialogue appropriate for them. I liked the fact that the film was clearly written for intelligent people. There is a scene towards the end where Denzel is surprised and cornered, and without missing a beat he says "Congratulations. You just passed the test. You are now a Narc, so you can put down the gun.". Denzel says this with such conviction that even this major film watcher, jaded from so many films that spell everything out for the viewer, believed it for just a second.

I also need to compliment the movie for accomplishing what only my favorite films ever tend to do. So much is said with a subtle look or gesture rather than with dialogue. I always admire a movie that can say something without speaking it. Pay close attention to the scene where Washington and the rest of his crew are trying to decide if Ethan’s rookie character should be allowed to survive a phony shoot out situation. All the looks and reactions are just right. Another masterpiece of a scene has Ethan playing cards with a group of dangerous gang members. The tension in the scene slowly builds all throughout. Our suspicions increase alongside Ethan, and learn a shocking truth just as he does. His reactions are logical and played well. The situation plays itself out great, although ends with a large contrivance.

As impressed as I was with the film, when it was over, I had some problems. For one, there is an amazing amount of story compacted into a small time frame. The story could almost be summed up by a rookie cop is being ‘auditioned’ for a top undercover narcotic position by the leader of the squad. He gives him a tour of the places drug users and sellers deal, and gives him lessons on how to operate. This sounds like it could be the story of a lesser movie, but here it is merely the skeleton that a larger story is wrapped around. The real story involves major double dealings by a cop who is really only out to profit himself. It starts early in the morning, and ends probably 18 hours later, but so much story is packed into this two hour movie that I find it hard to believe that it could all happen in one day. Yet, I suspect that upon further viewings it won’t seem fully unbelievable.

I also have to wonder about the enormous quantity of guns in the film. This film will scare a lot of people in the overseas markets. Actually this will scare a lot of people who don't live in high crime areas, with severe gang problems. There are so many guns in this film, and all the film’s characters have such a casual attitude about them that it is amazing. As a comparison, I remember the scene in “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” when a want-to-be thief says to a criminal supplier that he wants two shotguns, and the guy says, "What do you think this is? Beirut?".

You have to admire Washington’s character. Deep down, you think that like Dirty Harry, it takes this sort of attitude to truly hurt criminals, but I think this movie is a good argument that if a cop acts like a criminal he needs to be treated like one or else no one can ever feel safe.

Some people call this an action picture. This film is not mindless entertainment! This film is so well done, and executed so perfectly, that you can only find fault with the premise itself. If you don't believe that this sort of character could get away with what he does in this sort of a police department, than none of the film will work for you. If you get past this, you will probably really enjoy the film.

In a poor year for major releases, this film was one of the best.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older