The marketing problem could have been worse. “Training Day” could have been a movie about a corrupt firefighter.
Denzel Washington seems to be having the time of his life playing Alonzo Harris, a hugely corrupt LAPD narcotics detective who spends a day introducing determined rookie Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) to the mean streets of South Central LA.
Jake is bent on becoming a detective himself, agreeing to anything Alonzo tells him to do, such as smoking confiscated pot, to learn the ropes of uncover police work in LA. But it soon becomes clear that Alonzo has a dislike for a lot more than paperwork and rules; his methods make Dirty Harry look like a 14-year-old Brownie selling cookies.
Few actors can dominate the screen like Washington. Like a fiery preacher, he doesn’t even need to speak to make an impression on the audience. Within the first few minutes of “Training Day,” as we absorb Alonzo’s high-key world and blunt mind-set, it becomes clear that Washington’s presence is the backbeat of the film.
“King Kong ain’t got shit on me,” says Alonzo. This line, which Harris shouts to a neighborhood that he threatens to burn down, resonates in a “Go ahead, make my day” kind of way, as Harris repeatedly refers to his young partner by using the N-word.
“Training Day” is fast and slick and packs as much punch as any cop movie this year. The violence in it is common and brutal. But it yanks Hawke further into a career revival that began last year with “Hamlet.” There’s edge and danger in every frame of “Training Day,” and Washington is the reason why.
4 / 5 Stars
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin, Cliff Curtis, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Macy Gray, Charlotte Ayanna, Eva Mendes, Nick Chinlund, Raymond Cruz, Noel Gugliemi
Director: Antoine Fuqua
