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Training Day film review
TRAINING DAY
Running time: 120 mins
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Macy Gray
"Patrol fairies go to the office. We don't go to the office", the streetwise hustling officer Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) explains to the raw recruit Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) on his first day. If Hoyt had been smart he would have gone to the office, but that would have made for a boring movie so instead he goes along with Harris for what turns out to be the longest and most adventurous training day in the history of the LAPD.
By the end Hoyt's seen more action in one day than most officers experience in a career, including murder, attempted rape, extortion, drug busts, hostage taking and a running gun battle. The problem with having so much going on is that Training Day never affords itself the time to fully explore the characters, much to its detriment as Harris has the makings of an interesting and colourful figure, particularly in the expert hands of the always effective Washington who revels in the rare opportunity to play a more villainous role.
When the impressionable rookie Hoyt turns up for his first day on the job he finds the abrasive Harris only too willing to test his charge's savvy and resolve as he lays down the gauntlet, "You got today only to show me what you're made of". , Harris then offers Hoyt drugs along with the advice, "A good narcotics agent should have narcotics in his blood". It was rapidly becoming clear to Hoyt that nothing he'd learnt at the academy had prepared him for his assignment with Harris, especially when he finds himself riding shotgun in the customised 1978 Monte Carlo lowrider that Harris uses as his patrol car.
The stoned Hoyt hangs on to Harris's black leather coat tails as they tour the neighbourhood paying social calls on a variety of Harris's antisocial acquaintances that include the drug dealing Roger (Scott Glenn) and the wheelchair bound Sammy (Snoop Doggy Dogg). As Harris's nefarious dealings begin to conflict with Hoyt's more quixotic approach to policing, the teacher and pupil find themselves increasingly at odds until things come to a dramatic and bloody resolution.
Training Day starts with promise. The poised Washington is gripping as Harris, punctuating his speech with his own distinctive brand of street philosophy, "Let the garbage men handle the garbage" and "To protect the sheep, you kill the wolf", but the film doesn't delve beneath the bravado. It's as though director Antoine Fuqua and writer David Ayer don't trust that substance is an ally of action not an adversary. Had they shown a degree of restraint and endeavoured to maintain at least a tenuous grip on credulity, the results might have been more satisfying. Sadly, by the end the film's early hope had long since evaporated as events escalated to an almost farcical level and the characters had degenerated into cartoon figures.
Ultimately, as exhausting as the day's ordeals had been for Hoyt to endure, they had become equally tiresome to watch.
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