TRAINING DAY
dir: Antoine Fuqua
"I'm sorry I exposed you to it, but it is. It's ugly, but it's necessary. Sometimes you gotta have a little dirt on you for anybody to trust you." - Alonzo
Brief Synopsis
A rookie narcotics officer is trained by a dangerous undercover officer who frequently crosses the line between cop and criminal, making the rookie question his duty.
Why It's Here
"Training Day" paints a strong picture of the questionable moral code of an undercover narc. Ethan Hawke's first day on the job is not as he expects as Denzel Washington, who departs from his usual heroic role plays a veteran narc who is insistant that the only good cop, is a cop that can blend in and be the scum that he is trying to clean up.
"Training Day" is tense and gritty, realistic scenarios unfold in the types of dangerous neighborhoods you try your best to avoid. The fearless Denzel storms in breaking every law in the book while Hawke tries to stick to his moral guide, hoping the nice guy approach will serve justice as he was taught. As ruthless and dirty as Denzel is, the unforgiving crime world is equally as ruthless, and it takes someone rare to be able to infiltrate and undermine the operations. "Training Day" clearly paints it's hero in Hawke, but while Denzel is dangerous and corrupt, he has his own twisted set of morals and beliefs and his way of guidance for his new rookie, establishing him as a strong anti-hero, rather than an all-out villain. The film's strength comes in it's gritty reality and it's view of the undercover cop, which it doesn't play in just black and white, but rather in shades of grey where the viewer is never truly convinced whether or not excessive force and breaking the law is necessary for the officers success and survival.
Besides the dangerous job, "Training Day" is awesome simply because of how unforgivingly bad-ass Denzel is, carrying two loaded handguns and raiding houses with fake warrants, shooting up open streets without a single fear of death. You don't come across characters more awesome than that.
"Training Day" is tense and gritty, realistic scenarios unfold in the types of dangerous neighborhoods you try your best to avoid. The fearless Denzel storms in breaking every law in the book while Hawke tries to stick to his moral guide, hoping the nice guy approach will serve justice as he was taught. As ruthless and dirty as Denzel is, the unforgiving crime world is equally as ruthless, and it takes someone rare to be able to infiltrate and undermine the operations. "Training Day" clearly paints it's hero in Hawke, but while Denzel is dangerous and corrupt, he has his own twisted set of morals and beliefs and his way of guidance for his new rookie, establishing him as a strong anti-hero, rather than an all-out villain. The film's strength comes in it's gritty reality and it's view of the undercover cop, which it doesn't play in just black and white, but rather in shades of grey where the viewer is never truly convinced whether or not excessive force and breaking the law is necessary for the officers success and survival.
Besides the dangerous job, "Training Day" is awesome simply because of how unforgivingly bad-ass Denzel is, carrying two loaded handguns and raiding houses with fake warrants, shooting up open streets without a single fear of death. You don't come across characters more awesome than that.