TRAINING DAY by Antoine Fuqua
October 18th, 2004 by Andre Soares
Training Day (2001) 
Director: Antoine Fuqua. Screenplay: David Ayer. Cast: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin, Macy Gray, Eva Mendes, Raymond J. Barry, Dr. Dre
CRIME DOESN’T PAY (AT THE MOVIES)
Every few years, the Los Angeles Police Department gets embroiled in one scandal or other. The public is then told that the problem has been caused by a few bad apples; the system itself remains spotlessly clean. We get to taste quite a few of those bad apples in Training Day, a thriller that depicts a police culture embedded in corruption and violence. As such, the film could have become the 2001 Chinatown — a celluloid reflection of a city and a society so corrupt that nothing and no one are what they seem to be. Unfortunately, screenwriter David Ayer and director Antoine Fuqua preferred to leave out all major complexities from their narrative, opting instead for the more mundane — and more commercial — world of reality TV cop shows.
In fact, much like the many pseudo-cool reality TV shows, Training Day features quick cuts, groovy camera angles, and a soundtrack blasting rap rhythms. (Those add lots of noise — and little else — to the proceedings; soundtrack CD sales, however, have probably been brisk.) Yet, none of those tricks can disguise the myriad plot holes that dot the narrative, including an absurd deus ex machina resolution that saves the hero’s life, and an infuriating moralistic finale that feels like a misplaced homage to Bonnie and Clyde.
Training Day has another problem in the casting of Denzel Washington. In a showy role made to order for original choice Samuel L. Jackson, the Oscar-winning Washington tries awfully hard to act mean, but missing is the sense of menace that should emanate from every pore of his character. True, his Sgt. Harris’ deeds are creepy, but the actor performing them remains stubbornly affable. Ethan Hawke, on the other hand, is a revelation. Here’s an actor who manages to add depth and strength to an underwritten character that more resembles Cousin Nell from the Country than a Los Angeles police officer.
Ultimately, Training Day fails because its makers lacked the determination to be faithful to their corrosive material. In this tale of encroaching corruption, the villain should realistically come out victorious. The fact that he doesn’t is bad enough, but it is the overwrought manner of his comeuppance in the released version that destroys any semblance of credibility the picture has to offer. Director Fuqua and screenwriter Ayer wanted to have their bad apple and eat it, too. The inevitable result is a bad case of dyspepsia.
Synopsis:
Fresh-faced, rookie police officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is eager to become an elite narcotics agent for the Los Angeles Police Department. But before landing the difficult job Hoyt must prove his worth. Enter sour-looking, 13-year veteran Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), who accepts to test the young man’s capabilities by riding with him for a day around the mean streets of South-Central Los Angeles.
Hoyt’s "training" day is not an easy one. Besides having to deal with the usual street thugs, the rookie quickly realizes that Harris is a man who has been working the streets for so long that he has become indistinguishable from the criminals he’s supposed to catch. Worse yet is Hoyt’s suspicion that Harris may have accepted to be his trainer in order to set him up as the fall guy in a major drug deal.
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